Steve Bruce was ‘amazed’ by what Sunderland did against Leeds United this evening.
Sunderland claimed a point on their trip to Yorkshire, despite a ‘dominant’ display by the Whites.
The Black Cats kicked off at Elland Road with five at the back – giving Timothee Pembele his first start since joining the club, whilst Callum Styles came into replace the struggling Leo Hjelde.
Mike Dodds‘ expected huge attacking threat from the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Dan James and that’s exactly what they got, with Leeds claiming a hefty 70% possession across 90 minutes – completing a whopping 616 passes to Sunderland’s 280.
While Leeds had a total of 12 shots on home soil, Sunderland did limit them to only one shot on target, while they had three of their own.
Despite preventing the Whites from scoring, Steve Bruce admitted he was still ‘amazed’ by the visitors’ eagerness to sit back and defend.
Sunderland ‘amazed’ in the first half
Speaking onSky Sports Soccer Special (20:11), the former Sunderland manager said: “Leeds are totally dominant in possession and it has amazed me how Sunderland have sat back and defended.”
Steve Bruce clearly didn’t watch our win against Leeds United in December, because that’s exactly what we did then, and it worked.
Can Sunderland replicate the reverse fixture?
While we didn’t leave Elland Road with another victory, Sunderland finished the reverse fixture with 38% and used a similar formation to keep the Whites’ out.
The Wearside outfit put on another defensive display this evening and kept their fierce attackers fairly quiet, but they also had more shots on target than their opponents tonight.
Their game plan definitely proved successful as they claimed their fourth clean sheet in five games, leaving Leeds frustrated at the missed opportunity to go top of the Championship.
Sunderland did get lucky though, with both Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien being let off for potential handballs in the box.
It was overall a solid performance though with plenty of positives to take, leaving them unbeaten against the Whites this term.