2 Up, 2 Down: Safety Secured As Sunderland Draw With Wolves

I understand that according to the rules, you can’t pull on an opponents’s hair, but my frustration is that it’s been regarded as violent conduct — and Ballard missing the remainder of the season for his finger getting wrapped in a long strand of hair is absurd. Not only do I think Ballard isn’t the type of player to do that ‘violently’, but the lack of violence in the footage is clear too. Still, just don’t touch his hair and you won’t get sent off.

A soft Wolves equaliser

It’s not the first time this season that we’ve been undone by a set piece, as I am sure you’re all hyper aware of after the Forest game, and despite our consistently robust defence of the box for most of the season, conceding from balls into the box has become far too common. Obviously not having Ballard in there is a hindrance, but it’s another poor goal to concede and a continuation of a worrying pattern.

Lars Knutsen says…

A gutsy performance

After disappointing recent results, this was a performance of guts and character. Adversity seems to bring out the best in this team. We coped well despite setbacks, which illustrates how the team has got its mojo back after the Nottingham Forest thrashing. The Lads stayed in the game despite the numerical disadvantage, and could’ve scored a winner, so overall this represents a hard-fought point at a ground where Liverpool recently lost. And importantly, we’re still above Newcastle.

Mukiele’s star is rising

We witnessed a great goal and an assured performance that shows how Nordi Mukiele has become a crucial playe. He timed his header extremely well and showed how valuable his goals have been this season. He’s a rapidly-maturing player whose performances have been a key contribution to Sunderland’s success in this campaign.

What got into Dan Ballard?

It was a ridiculous hair pull which got our big number five into trouble. His moment of madness was ultimately the difference between a single point on the road and what could’ve been a routine victory. The irritating thing is that nobody is going to be pulling Ballard’s hair — should there be regulations about players with long locks having their hair tied back?

Is Europe slipping away?

Teams like Brentford are looking like qualifying for the Champions League. There’s been a lot of debate this week about whether a European campaign would be good for Sunderland at this time, and I must admit I agree with former manager Sam Allardyce, who underlined how hard it is to win in the Premier Legue after a midweek game on the continent. The summer investment in new players would have to be enormous to make us competitive, were we to qualify.

Malc Dugdale says…

The Lads end their losing streak

Despite being a man down for about seventy minutes, we got a point away from home and stopped the losing streak. With eleven men we would’ve won that as Wolves were awful, but any away point in the Premier League is worth having and especially one earned by only ten players for three quarters of the game. I also believe we’re now mathematically safe — which is a great thing to achieve with a few games to go. Massive respect to all the lads and the staff.

Sunderland impress with ten men

Even with ten men, at times we looked the better side and on another day we may have nicked that. The ball out and take from Robin Roefs and Wilson Isidor respectively has led to us nicking a win, but it wasn’t to be yesterday. Great finish from Nordi Mukiele and if he’d missed, Trai Hume was begging for it behind him with a free header too.

Hair today…a ban tomorrow?

It’s a mistake from Dan Ballard but I have to say I do think that rule is ripe for abusing, and that players with longer locks should be asked to tie it up to prevent accidental issues. Ballard knows the rules though and although it comes across to me like a huge “soft as shite” situation, he should’ve known and done better. It changed the game for the worse but we let him off.

Poor Sunderland marking

Although we had a man less, we had two lads around their player at the back stick and neither did enough to prevent the equaliser. Our set pieces gained and lost momentum in the same game, and that’s an area we really need to build on for next season.