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Jack Baldwin lead the Sunderland fight back as they toiled their way to another draw at home against Blackpool.
The home side had trailed for a majority of the match after Armand Gnanduillet’s brilliant opener, but earned a deserved point after making their second-half pressure tell against the Seasiders.
The draw leaves Sunderland three points off automatic promotion, having used up one of their two games in hand on second-placed Barnsley. Ultimately the Black Cats paid the price for a disjointed first-half and wasteful finishing from Will Grigg in particular.
Through 20 minutes it was more of the same from Sunderland. Plenty of possession and territory, but no end product.
Barring a few dangerous Grant Leadbitter corners, Blackpool were comfortable, even managing good possession in the Sunderland half, they were similarly wasteful in the final third, early on.
A deflected Jimmy Dunne effort from long-range and a cross-cum-shot from George Honeyman did at least give the Sunderland fans something to cheer about as Sunderland started to threaten before the half-hour mark.
The game sprang to life 15 minutes prior to half-time, first Curtis Tilt saw his free header blocked on the line from a Blackpool corner.
Then on the counter from the resulting corner Duncan Watmore slipped in Grigg after an excellent through ball from Honeyman, but the new singing fluffed his lines, scuffing his effort too close to Mark Howard in the Blackpool goal.
Moments after missing the best chance of the game Sunderland were behind. Gnanduillet’s rocket flew past Jon McLaughlin from 20 yards finding the bottom corner.
The Black Cats nearly countered before half-time when Aiden McGeady hit the outside of the post from a free-kick, Howard was rooted to the spot, well-beaten.
Five minutes before half-time Blackpool nearly doubled their lead, this time Ben Heneghan missed a free-header six yards out, as the Wearsiders failed to defend another set-piece.
The opening half finished with the Seasiders doing something Sunderland rarely managed, they tested the opposition goalkeeper. McLaughlin held on well from Matty Virtue’s pot-shot to keep the Black Cats only one behind at half-time.
Sunderland were slightly better after half-time without ever truly arresting control of the game. In the first 20 minutes of the second-half, Watmore fired just wide across goal and Charlie Wyke saw his scuffed effort blocked in the Tangerines’ box.
Grigg’s tough start to life as Sunderland’s star forward hit a further roadblock as the Northern Ireland international conspired to miss an open-goal. Grigg rounded Howard with ease, but shot into the side-netting under no real pressure with no Blackpool defenders covering, a shocking miss.
Mid-way through the second-half Sunderland finally put the visitors under consistent pressure, Wyke saw a snapshot well-saved and Watmore got in-behind only to botch his cutback.
Baldwin continued Sunderland’s run of scoring in every league fixture this year burying a near-post header from a Leadbitter corner to bring Sunderland level.
Despite the final ten minutes being all Sunderland, Blackpool held on, another disappointing draw on Wearside.
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
GOALS remain a problem for promotion-chasing Sunderland in 2019, and the visit of play-off chasing Blackpool failed to come up with a solution.
And in the end Jack Ross, his Black Cats players and fans were indebted to an unlikely goalscoring hero - Jack Baldwin - for avoiding defeat in front of another crowd in excess of 27,000 at the Stadium of Light.
Things could have been worse for Sunderland after striker Armand Gnanduillet gave a first-half lead to the Seasiders that was well deserved, given the way they approached the trip to Wearside.
Will Grigg, the £4m striker, summed up Sunderland’s frustrations by missing two glorious chances, one in each half, on a night when it seemed his new team would not be able to find that bit of magic in the final third. The second on his home debut will be one he will particularly struggle to forget.
But Baldwin’s header got him off the hook, even if the boos at the half-time and the full-time whistles illustrated the current mood at Sunderland — who have still closed the gap to Barnsley in second to four points.
And the Black Cats, who have won just three of their last nine unbeaten games in League One, have yet to score more than one in a league game for the first time since before Christmas. That has become a nuisance, even if Sunderland have scored in every league game this season.
Even though Sunderland were only five points shy of the second automatic promotion spot beforehand, there is no disguising that everyone connected with the club had set their sights on a strong return from this run of three home games in a row.
But anyone who had taken more time to look at the table would have seen that play-off chasers Blackpool boasted the joint-best defence in the division and kept 15 clean sheets.
It was hardly the most promising sign for a Sunderland side that had failed to score two in a league game since December 15, form that has seen them lose ground on leaders Luton.
That is why Ross needed a big performance in front of the home fans and turned to Grigg, Duncan Watmore and Aiden McGeady to deliver.
Watmore and Lynden Gooch were two of three changes, with Luke O’Nien recalled at right-back, to the side that was left frustrated at Oxford United on Saturday, in a further indication that Ross is struggling to settle on a selection.
Initially his latest moves looked like they could work. Sunderland started rather promisingly and displayed a hunger to push on. The problem was they struggled to carve open the reliable visiting defence.
The only efforts Sunderland had to show for that spell, however, was two quick corners early on from Grant Leadbitter.
His first would have curled straight in had goalkeeper Mark Howard not been alert to turn away, and the second was quickly taken and he ended up having the space to shoot into the Blackpool No 1.
But Blackpool were encouraged to push on more, so they did. Even if lone striker Gnanduillet looked like he could spend the game isolated initially, he was soon supported by orange shirts who were confident enough to attack.
That said Sunderland goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin hadn’t had too much to do either, until the game changed inside a frantic 60 seconds just after half an hour when the home side was made to pay for wasting a glorious chance.
After Baldwin had carried the ball out, Watmore was played in behind the defence down the right flank. He spotted Grigg on the move and unmarked on the left, but the striker drilled a shot straight at Howard when he should have at least tested him more.
That proved costly. Blackpool, relieved, immediately went on the attack and caught Sunderland off guard, much to the frustration of Ross who could not hide his disappointment in his technical area.
There was still plenty of work for Gnanduillet to do on the edge of the area but the Frenchman, who has worked his way back up after spending a few years in the non-league, powered an effort inside McLaughlin’s bottom right corner.
Given Sunderland’s problems in front of goal this year, it was never going to be easy for them to get back into it and their best chance to do that in the first half was when McGeady shaved the right-hand post with a free-kick from 20 yards.
There was almost a repeat of the opener, as Blackpool went straight on the attack. They forced a corner and the surprising thing was that defender Ben Heneghen didn’t capitalise with the opening when he headed over from Liam Feeney’s corner. More articles
Ross was not the only man unhappy. Supporters greeted the half-time whistle with boos and that did get a reaction from the same set of players immediately after the restart, but it didn’t last long.
Within five minutes Blackpool’s players felt they should have had a penalty when Gooch, who had just handed possession back to the visitors at the other end, appeared to trip Antony Evans.
Referee Carl Boyeson, who had correctly waved away an O’Nien spot-kick shout in the first half, was having none of it.
From there on in Sunderland showed more attacking intent, with Watmore leading the charge more often than not. He had already dragged a low shot wide of the far post when he then darted at the defence moments later and picked out Charlie Wyke in the box.
Wyke, who had replaced Gooch after an uninspiring display in the middle rather than out wide, then turned and saw a difficult shot blocked when he ought to have laid the ball off for Honeyman lurking on the edge of the area unmarked.
There was an even more glaring miss to come just after the hour.
When Baldwin played a lovely pass forward, Grigg knocked the ball beyond Howard and had the empty goal ahead of him. While at an angle, it was by no means difficult, and he somehow found the side-netting when he had no Blackpool player near him.
With Sunderland’s forwards struggling, Baldwin took matters into his own hands. He charged upfield as Leadbitter shaped to take a corner and when the delivery was floated to the centre of the box, the former Hartlepool United defender headed down and beyond Howard.
It was then a case of if Sunderland could add that match-deciding second. The answer was no, and in fact there was nothing really to seriously worry Howard and Blackpool left with a point.
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
'Dire, negative football!': Sunderland fans vent their frustration after ANOTHER league draw
Sunderland fans were forced to endure another draw on home soil as the Black Cats shared the spoils with Blackpool - and they've been quick to react. Jack Baldwin's late leveller secured a point for Jack Ross' side as they failed to make their dominance count against the Seasiders.
The result sees Sunderland continue their poor run in front of goal, with the side not netting twice in a league fixture since December 15. And several fans have voiced their frustrations over this on social media - while others are keen to remain positive in what they feel is a minor blip. Here's the best of the reaction from social media:
@guitarsmiller said: "Ah well ... perhaps it's going to be the hard way once again"
@SAFC_NYorkshire drew the positives, posting: "It’s another point and still unbeaten at home. Onwards and upwards...hopefully."
@wdt0_0 commented: "We wanted a team to work hard and give everything or the shirt. Well tonight you can’t doubt the effort and graft. Some people have very short memories"
@jlawson1993 added: "Can’t beat Blackpool at Home. Cant wait to lose in the play off semis"
@LeighWarin tweeted: "Embarrassing how weak we are."
@RossSanderson25 said: "So negative, so lacking in attacking ideas, so lucky to get a point, we are very poor, it’s very worrying, our players never seem to have space"
@fiona2608 commented: "Griggs missed chances will haunt my dreams"
@RokerPark150705 added: "The wheels have definitely come off for #SAFC in terms of winning automatic promotion.."
@DavidNunn73 posted: "Not good enough again. That’ll be automatic promotion spots gone. We’ve completely bottled this recently."
@tmalbrghtn tweeted: "Defended Jack Ross to the hilt but you cant defend that today. Same issues as previous weeks. Long ball doesnt work. Overloading wide areas constantly, no drive forward in midfield & we’re so slow we just end up with players watching other players do nothing"
@SAFC1879_ said: "Ross is also massively underperforming. Dire football, no clue how to break teams down"
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Sunderland fans react after Will Grigg misses a sitter on his home debut
Grigg seemed certain to cap his home debut with a goal only to roll the ball wide with the goal wide open
Sunderland fans have reacted with disbelief after Will Grigg's shocking miss on his home debut against Blackpool.
There was much fanfare surrounding the deadline day arrival of Grigg from Wigan and much was expected on his first appearance at the Stadium of Light.
Grigg had his first sight of goal in the first half when he was played through one on one with Blackpool goalkeeper Mark Howard, only to fire straight at the Blackpool goalkeeper.
But in the second-half, Grigg fashioned himself a more clear cut opportunity when he rounded Howard. With the goal gaping, Grigg inexplicably rolled the ball wide.
uckily for Grigg, Jack Baldwin's second-half header cancelled out Armand Gnanduillet's first-half opener to rescue a point, but it didn't stop Black Cats fans airing their disbelief on social media.
James Copley tweeted: "How on earth has Will Grigg missed that? Oh dear."
Making reference to the chant 'Will Grigg's on fire', Ellie Stevens joked: "Moving to SAFC is enough to extinguish anyone."
And Elliot Pearson said: "Still have shellshock from that Grigg miss, feel for the lad though, obviously feeling the pressure, hope it doesn't knock his confidence."
To see how Sunderland fans reacted to Grigg's miss, have a read below.
Moving to SAFC is enough to extinguish anyone 🤷🏻♀️🧯 #grigg
Sunderland 1-1 Blackpool: Jack Baldwin earns point for Black Cats
Sunderland closed the gap to the top two in Sky Bet League One but only by a point after Blackpool left the Stadium of Light with a 1-1 draw.
The Black Cats, now four points behind second-placed Barnsley with a game in hand, struggled to find the net again and were only spared defeat courtesy of defender Jack Baldwin's equalising header with quarter of an hour remaining.
Blackpool, now unbeaten in six games and chasing a play-off spot, were well organised and good value for the lead when French striker Armand Gnanduillet found the bottom right corner of Jon McLaughlin's net in the 31st minute.
Moments before that Sunderland's Will Grigg had wasted a fantastic chance when he hit an effort straight at goalkeeper Mark Howard.
Worse was to come for former Wigan striker Grigg after the break when he hit the side-netting with the empty goal in front of him after rounding Howard.
But Sunderland did claim a point in the end to extend their unbeaten run to nine league matches, when Baldwin directed Grant Leadbitter's corner down and beyond the keeper from six yards.
[Post edited 12 Feb 2019 23:02]
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
Sunderland closed the gap to the top two in League One but only by a point after Blackpool left the Stadium of Light with a 1-1 draw.
The Black Cats, now four points behind second-placed Barnsley with a game in hand, struggled to find the net again and were only spared defeat courtesy of defender Jack Baldwin's equalising header with quarter of an hour remaining.
Blackpool, now unbeaten in six games and chasing a play-off spot, were well organised and good value for the lead when French striker Armand Gnanduillet found the bottom right corner of Jon McLaughlin's net in the 31st minute.
Moments before that, Sunderland's Will Grigg had wasted a fantastic chance when he hit an effort straight at goalkeeper Mark Howard.
Worse was to come for former Wigan striker Grigg after the break when he hit the side-netting with the empty goal in front of him after rounding Howard.
But Sunderland did claim a point in the end to extend their unbeaten run to nine league matches, when Baldwin directed Grant Leadbitter's corner down and beyond the keeper from six yards.
Match Stats
Home Team: Sunderland. Away Team: Blackpool
Possession Home 58% Away 42%
Shots Home 18 Away 11
Shots on Target Home 7 Away 5
Corners Home 8 Away 3
Fouls Home 10 Away 11
Referee: Carl Boyeson Attendance: 27,580
Learning to read clusters is not something your eyes do naturally. It takes constant practice.
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