Sunderland suffered a setback in their hunt for the Championship playoff positions last night, succumbing to back-to-back defeats as Darren Moore's Huddersfield Town travelled to the Stadium of Light and pulled off a shock 2-1 win at the expense of Tony Mowbray's lacklustre Black Cats.
The Terriers won the match courtesy of an instinctive finish from attacker Delano Burgzorg late on, persistence paying off for the away side after a mazey run initially unsettled the Sunderland backline, before Burgzorg fired home past Anthony Patterson for the decisive match-winning goal.
Mowbray's men will feel aggrieved that they didn't at least pick up a point from this contest, the statistics from the match pointing in the direction that Sunderland should have romped home to a comprehensive victory instead of coming up short.
Sunderland's game in numbers
Sunderland on another night, playing at their free-flowing best, would have confidently beaten the Terriers without even batting an eyelid – Mowbray's misfiring group registering 27 shots on goal to Huddersfield's lesser nine attempts.
Yet, the Black Cats continually fluffed their lines on the night with only of nine those efforts going down as shots on target. Whereas, Huddersfield were far more effective and clincial by scoring two of their five shots on target at the Stadium of Light to pull off a surprise win.
This loss brings into view even more the necessity for Sunderland to finally sign a new striker this January to replace Ross Stewart, the Black Cats spurning countless chances that should've nestled into the back of Chris Maxwell's opposing goal with an xG of 2.73 overall as per Sofascore.
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It was also something of an off-day for the exciting Jobe Bellingham in the midfield as the teenager 'looked leggy throughout' – in the words of the Chronicle's James Hunter – while the Sunderland Echo's Phil Smith noted that the former Birmingham City man was also 'fairly quiet and didn't create much'.
The 18-year-old wasn't alone in underwhelming, however, with the typically reliable rock that is Dan Ballard also underperforming.
Daniel Ballard's game in numbers
Sunderland's number five struggled all evening up against Darren Moore's Terriers, losing 66.7% of his duels versus Huddersfield in an uncharacteristic display – Ballard before this match winning 5.5 duels on average per 90 minutes this campaign.
He would only win two all evening in this one, while also losing possession on nine occasions, Huddersfield buoyed by Ballard's sub-standard showing at the back.
The former Arsenal youth prospect also failed to put in a single tackle all evening to thwart the Terriers when they darted forward, alongside ducking further defensive responsibilities by not making a single clearance all night too.
On another night, a more dogged display by Ballard and the rest of the Sunderland defence would have kept Huddersfield at arm's length and ensured the Black Cats picked up three points instead of coming away from the home game empty-handed.
It led to Dominic Shaw, football journalist for the Northern Echo, giving Ballard a 5/10 in this player ratings article directly after the 2-1 loss, stating that Ballard was 'well short of his commanding best'.
The Northern Ireland international – as well as Bellingham – will dust himself off after this below-par display and will hope he can get back to his best in Sunderland's next Championship match away at Millwall.
Mowbray will be asking for his promotion-chasing group to up their performances away from just Ballard, Sunderland now four points off the playoffs after two consecutive losses.
