Sunderland have been a solid team this season in the Championship and have surprised many by entering themselves into the conversation for promotion. However, their 2-1 defeat at Leeds United on Monday night more or less ended their hopes of sneaking into the top two. While they look certain to finish in the playoff spots, there is disappointment at the way the team collapsed at Elland Road towards the end after playing well for the first hour against the best side in the Championship. Regis Le Bris was left pondering what could have been had his team held on but it is now clear to him why Leeds are where they are after they bullied the away side in the closing stages of the game to win the three points.Pascal Struijk emerged as the hero for Leeds United on an evening when the home side were not at their best against a Sunderland team who looked very much like the promotion contender they have been all season.Elland Road was getting twitchy as Sunderland continued to lead 1-0 after the game entered it’s final quarter without Leeds threatening to level the scores.However, Leeds found a way to apply the pressure on the away side in the closing stages of the game and Struijk scored two headed goals to win all three points at Elland Road.
Le Bris and his Sunderland players were left heartbroken after they went toe-to-toe with Leeds for more than an hour of the game only to wilt under the pressure at Elland Road in the closing stages of the game.
Sunderland are now eight points off the automatic promotion spots and appear to be out of that race while being comfortably placed to finish in the playoff spots.
‘We were just not enough against a dominant Leeds United side’ – Sunderland boss
Sunderland showed on Monday night why they have been in the promotion race this season but they came up against a Leeds side who are beasts at home.
The Whites were not at their best and the home fans grew nervous as the game wore on. However, Leeds found a way to break Sunderland’s hearts towards the closing stages of the game.
Le Bris pointed out that his team looked like the better team at halftime but conceded that once Leeds built momentum towards the end, it became increasingly difficult for his players to deal with that pressure.
He credited Daniel Farke for changing the game through his substitutes and once the crowd got into the game, handing the pressure from Leeds became far too hard for his team.
The Sunderland boss insisted that his team looked good for an hour but now need to find a way to be more consistent and deal with such scenarios when they come under pressure in a hostile environment.
“I think we deserved to be winning at half-time, but during the second half they built a strong momentum and it was really difficult to break their dynamic”, Le Bris said on Sky Sports.
“Their subs were excellent as well and they were very good at the end of the game. We didn’t find the solution to slow down the game.
“With the crowd, there was a massive energy behind them and in the end, I think they deserved to win in the second half.
“It’s a shame and very difficult for the players and for us and our fans, but Leeds were very strong in the second half.
“We stayed strong for much of the match and it was a few details [set-pieces] that cost us. But we can be proud of our performance because Leeds are the dominant side in this league.
“For 60 minutes in this game, we were very close to their level and it is a question for us now of consistency and we have to find a solution when we were are in this situation against a strong team.
“They are a good team, they are dominant at the minute but we were not very far away from them, but not enough for us to win a point this evening.”
Le Bris realised Leeds are far too good this season
Leeds were not at their fluent best on Monday night and the home team did look a little short of ideas around the hour mark when Sunderland were still leading 1-0.
However, the home side shifted gears in the final quarter of the game and Le Bris admitted Sunderland found it hard once the heat was turned on.
Once Struijk scored in the 78th minute to level things up, everyone knew that only one team would score the winning goal and they were the home side.The injury-time winner was a result of unrelenting pressure from the home side and in the end, Leeds deserved to walk away with all three points.
Sunderland are no pushover but as we have seen over the last few weeks, Leeds have shifted gears and are looking like a side who are destined for promotion.
The away side gave a good account of themselves but any side in the Championship would have struggled at Elland Road once the tide turned towards Leeds.
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