‘New Year Day, Big Win’ as Sunderland Trash Preston FC 2-0 at Stadium of Light

‘Turned it off. New year, same old North End’ – the Preston verdict as Sunderland take 2-0 lead into break at Stadium of Light

Sunderland began 2024 with a convincing win over Preston North End, scoring their first goal from a striker.

Alex Pritchard’s superb early strike put his side ahead, and following good work from Jack Clarke, Nazariy Rusyn doubled the lead just before half time on his return to the starting XI. Preston dominated the ball and territory in the second half but unable to create any meaningful chances, with Sunderland ultimately deserving of their win, which moves them back into the top six – albeit briefly.

The game’s first exchanges were unusually open, with both teams trading quite meaningful chances. In the first minute, Jobe Bellingham set up Clarke, who did well to get his shot off despite three defenders closing in on him, but his effort curled wide of the far post. Patterson was subsequently called into action at the opposite end, where he made a great high to his left stop to deny Whiteman.

Sunderland, on the other hand, appeared to be the more threatening side, owing largely to Alex Pritchard’s excellent play and a great switch from Beale. Trai Hume was free to move over to the right wing, overlapping as Pritchard drifted infield, with Aji Alese returning to the starting XI. The sight of the attacking midfielder on the flank appeared peculiar at first, but Preston struggled to track him down as he found space in the middle of the pitch. It resulted in the first goal of 2024, with the forward collecting up Pierre Ekwah’s smart ball before unleashing a stunning long-range strike.

Sunderland played well here, with Ekwah and Neil controlling the midfield, but Preston had more of the ball and more touches in the box as halftime approached. Much of that was due to their set piece danger, but Frokjaer also fired over twice from fairly advantageous positions.

Sunderland were experiencing an old problem: converting their good play into chances in the box. But it all changed a few minutes before halftime. Patterson’s ability to gather a cross and quickly release Clarke on the break was outstanding. Rusyn converted his low cross first time after the referee brilliantly played an advantage after an attempt to scythe the winger down. The Ukrainian had battled to get into the half, but it was the type of centre forward play that had been lacking all season, the run across the six-yard box and the deft finish. The sense of relief was palpable.

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Sunderland struggled to get their foot on the ball and open the game up in the second half, with Preston going more direct and playing with intensity. Ballard and O’Nien dealt with the aerial and physical threat well. Alese’s name in the starting XI was a welcome boost, as he allowed Hume to thrive on the right side and gave Sunderland another big presence to deal with Preston’s direct play.

Alese barely put a foot wrong as he got through 70 minutes on his return and looked every inch the player who so impressed last season. With Dennis Cirkin back in training, there are real positives for Beale to take into the new year. Sunderland didn’t make any impression in an attacking sense through the second half, but they didn’t have to. Preston had all of the ball but did little with it, and Sunderland managed the game ahead of the derby this weekend.

Although the performance against Rotherham United was poor, seven points from nine represents a good response to the Coventry City debacle.

Sunderland AFC XI: Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O’Nien, Alese (Pembele, 69); Neil, Ekwah; Rusyn (Ba, 75), Jobe (Mayenda, 85), Clarke; Pritchard (Seelt, 85)

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