Player Ratings: Sunderland 1-3 Fulham

The ratings are in following an important away win for the Whites.

Fulham stopped the rot with an impressive win on Wearside, handing Sunderland only their secon home defeat of the season.

Bernd Leno

Had absolutely nothing to do for about 40 minutes until Sadiki had a strike from 30-odd yards out, which carried very little power or threat and left Leno with an easy save to make. He did, however, make a wonderful save to deny Angulo 68 minutes in, tipping the winger’s strike over the bar from the right side of the box, managing to survive conceding a corner kick from it too. Went the right way for Sunderland’s penalty but any keeper would’ve struggled to keep out Le Fee’s powerful effort from the spot. 6.5/10

Kenny Tete

Certainly not at his best in the first half, even if he did offer far more defensive security than Castagne ever does. Struggled at times to assert any dominance against Angulo in one on one situations, where he normally excels. Also had a few pot shots from range that came nowhere close to causing Roefs any issues when other options were definitely on around him. Did very well to occupy Sunderland’s defenders in the box, which allowed Raul to score the opening goal from a corner. Zero accurate crosses is strange for him, considering his normal threat in those areas. 6/10

Joachim Andersen

Really sold performance, and hopefully something to build on after a run of errors in the Premier League of late from an individual perspective. That said, there was one moment where he had a couple of kicks at a Sunderland player had tangled with Raul in our own box while he was on the floor which could have easily been interpreted as a foul. Defensively superb though, winning all of his duals and making a number of important clearances. Long passing was on and off but set up a couple of promising attacks on Wilson’s side of the pitch. 7/10

Calvin Bassey

Really strong performance, which felt needed considering the debate over whether he should have displaced Cuenca following his return from the African Cup of Nations. Just seemed to have a better sense of focus than normal in the way he was so in tune with cutting out any danger from Sunderland in the final third, which was reflected in him having more defensive contributions than anyone else. Also helped cover Sessegnon a lot in wider positions when Sunderland tried to overload those areas, especially in the first half. 7.5/10 – man of the match.

Ryan Sessegnon

One of his weakest performances at left-back out of all the times he’s been drafted into that position. Really struggled in the early stages to get anywhere near Jocelin on his Premier League debut, who kept getting past Sess with a variety of skills. Thought he’d started to defend with a bit more conviction once Jocelin came off injured but then gave away the most brain dead penalty you could ever wish to see, costing us a clean sheet and further comfort in the closing stages. Also missed a huge chance in the first half, putting a decent opportunity wide and above the right-hand post. 4.5/10

Sander Berge

Poor again. He seemed to reel off all his inadequacies in the opening stages of the game. Threw away chances to shoot, instead opting to go backwards or just to slow us down completely. Misplaced multiple passes in his own half, reaching double figures for possessions lost once more. Got torn to shreds more than once by Enzo le Fee, who had Berge look like he was chasing shadows. Missed a sitter late on, hitting a rebounded attempt into row Z from six yards out. I just don’t get why he is playing every week with such incredibly poor form. 3.5/10

Alex Iwobi

To be honest, for the most part I thought it was another poor performance. I don’t know whether he’s simply struggling for freshness after travelling to Africa in the winter or whether adapting to a central position has been harder for him this season, but recent games in the eight position just have not seen Iwobi prosper at all. Offered almost zero creativity again for the most part and when he had a good chance blocked by Hume just after half time, you thought it was another one of this days for him. However his day was saved somewhat by a beautiful dinked finish in the closing stages to complete an important victory. 6/10

Harry Wilson

I actually feel Harry deserves more praise than he’ll probably get for his full 90 here. Of course he is mostly a moments player and he had his moment late on, carrying the ball 70 yards before playing the perfect pass to set up Iwobi after carefully assessing his options in Sunderland’s box. But that moment summed his game up for me. Whilst he struggled to get on the ball too much, his decision making on it was frequently superb, getting crosses in from all sorts of angles and carrying the ball beyond Sunderland’s midfield time after time when given the chance. Nice to see him not be completely anonymous in a game where he wasn’t the centre of attention. 7/10

Emile Smith Rowe

Thought in a first half where Fulham’s build up play was often so slow and ineffective, he seemed to be the one dropping in between the lines and offering an outlet to Andersen and Bassey for a pass through the middle, which he then moved on to others, such as for Sess when he missed his big chances in the first half. Also loved how well he pressed relentlessly in a game where Raul looked particularly leggy at times in that aspect. Only critique would be that at times he did slightly slow us down himself on the counter attack, which was frustrating. 6.5/10

Kevin

I really hope he’s not badly injured his metatarsal or any part of his lower leg/foot, because he looked genuinely unable to put any pressure on his left foot, which was worrying. Before that, without a doubt our most dangerous attacking option, constantly getting beyond his full back and causing danger. 6.5/10

Raul Jimenez

Realistically two goals completely masked a frustrated and poor performance…but we mustn’t complain. With how poor he’d been in the first half, especially off the ball, and the fact he’d been booked and looked like a kettle ready to boil, the assumption was he’d come off at half time. The fact is, he played another 20 minutes and won the game with a cracking run and header for the first, and a 13th consecutive converted penalty for the Premier League’s greatest ever penalty taker. Funny old game. 6.5/10

Substitutes

Oscar Bobb

Considering he probably played close to an hour in the end, taking into account how much added time was played across both halves, it was a shame to see how little he effected the game. To only have 30 touches in that time, losing possession seven times, is a big indicator of how poor it was. I have sympathy, it’s a new environment after a big injury, so patience is due, but there wasn’t much to get excited about here. 5/10

Rodrigo Muniz

Another who we can only assume will play better football once back up to speed following his own injury issues since August. His half an hour here saw three passes, zero shots, just 15 touches and three duals won from 13. Completely ineffective off the bench when given a decent chance to prove his worth in this side. 5/10

Marco Silva

No idea what to say here. I’d be crucified for being overly negative. It was a really good win and there’s things to like. Defensively, we were set up well when faced with a difficult scenario, up against two new wingers to the league who caused a lot of issues in the first half specifically. The persistence with Raul has to be seen as a match-winning decision also.

But despite the win, the nature of our football continues to bother me. That third goal is proof of what we can do when we play with any pace or directness. Chukwueze, Kevin, Sess, Jedi, Wilson, Raul, Tete, Muniz, Bobb, Iwobi, ESR, King etc…for a mid-table club as we are, that’s a ridiculous glut of talent, containing so much skill, excitement and speed. So to see us constantly play with little intensity, slow build up, backward passes etc…it’s more sad than it is infuriating.

A good win away from home. I’m happy about it; I’m not completely miserable, I just maintain that a different pair of eyes may see the talent in this squad for what it is and allow them to flourish more in a more attacking style. 6/10