Andy’s Player Ratings: Sunderland 0-1 Cardiff City - the Lads lose out to late sucker punch!

Anthony Patterson: 6/10

Bit of a lucky goal for Cardiff, with their player knowing nothing about it, leaving Patterson with no chance. Pretty much a passenger otherwise but did make a really good save in injury time to prevent another goal.

Trai Hume: 6/10

Tidy on the ball and put in his usual strong tackles but put such a sloppy ball out of play for the corner that Cardiff scored from.

Dan Ballard: 7/10

Good display from Ballard, dominating the Cardiff frontline until late on when the defence looked wide open as the team pushed for an equaliser.

Luke O’Nien (C): 6/10

Was marking the Cardiff player who scored, so will be disappointed that he didn’t make it harder for him. Otherwise wasn’t particularly stretched until late on.

Niall Huggins: 8/10

Provided a lot of thrust from left back throughout the game, showing some pace to cause Cardiff problems.

Dan Neil: 7/10

Some really nice touches in the middle of the park and almost everything went through him. Did get lucky late on when he lost the ball deep in our half but like a number of our players he looked tired at that point. Had a couple of good efforts in quick succession blocked.

Alex Pritchard: 7/10

Had a very good chance in the first half and probably should have done better with his that chance and tested the goalkeeper after the break. Linked up play well but became less of an influence as the game ticked down.

Abdoullah Ba: 6/10

Made a really good chance for Pritchard after playing a one-two with Jobe in the first half and put in a peach of a cross too. Good on the ball as usual, other than one heavy touch which saw him get booked, quiet in the second half.

Jobe Bellingham: 7/10

Played a nice ball into Ba in the build up to the Pritchard chance and had half a chance himself with a header. Got around the pitch well and did not play like a player who only turned 18 yesterday.

Jack Clarke: 7/10

Wasn’t the consistent threat he has been lately, with Cardiff working hard to deny him room but still caused problems. Had one chance when he skipped past two players and forced a good save from the goalkeeper. Looked very tired towards the end.

Mason Burstow: 6/10

Put in a lot of effort off the ball, charging down Cardiff defenders making unseen runs but struggled to get involved again with the ball.

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Substitutes

Patrick Roberts: 6/10

Tried really hard to make something happen but sometimes a little too hard and ran into dead ends. Looked dangerous though and forced a good save after being picked out by Clarke.

Adil Aouchiche: 6/10

Another good cameo, whipped in a good cross shortly after coming on, had another effort on target and linked up well with his new team-mates.

Luis Hemir: 6/10

Kept coming deep to try and get involved, with very little coming his way in the box. Linked up well and almost picked out Ballard with a header from a deep Neil cross.

Nazariy Rusyn: 6/10

Looked quite lively after coming on but unfortunately Cardiff scored as he was waiting on the sideline and that seemed to sap all their energy out his team-mate’s legs.

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Man of the Match: Niall Huggins

Worked really hard down the left wing, getting up and down all game and causing real problems with his pace. Linked up well with Clarke with the only downside was being unable to find the final ball consistently.

Cardiff really punished the gap he vacated when he went off and really should have made it two.

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

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