Jack Clarke's fourth goal of the season failed to spare Sunderland defeat at Swansea City. The Black Cats turned in their worst 45 minutes of the season in the first half at the Swansea.com Stadium and went in at the break trailing 2-0.
Ollie Cooper's early deflected strike gave the Swans the lead, and then in injury-time at the end of the half Harry Darling stabbed in from close range at a set-piece. Sunderland improved in the second half and Clarke pulled a goal back soon after the restart, but the Wearsiders could not force an equaliser.
Defeat brought Sunderland's four-game unbeaten run to an end, as they suffered their first defeat since they went down 1-0 at Middlesbrough just over a month ago. And it also saw them slip three places to 11th place in the Championship table.
READ MORE: Swansea City 2-1 Sunderland: Black Cats pay price for poor first half as unbeaten run halted
Here's how our Sunderland AFC writer James Hunter rated the players.
Anthony Patterson 6
A couple of excellent saves, but also had one huge let-off in the second half when he passed straight to Piroe
Lynden Gooch 6
Poor in the first half but improved in the second - just like the team as a whole
Luke O'Nien 6
Unlucky with the deflection for Swansea's opener, he tried to block it and it could have gone anywhere
Danny Batth 7
Solid in central defence
Aji Alese 6
Another good display at left-back
Patrick Roberts 5
Toiled away on the right flank, largely in vain
Corry Evans 6
Stayed composed in the middle of the park, but picked up a fifth booking which will rule him out next weekend
Dan Neil 5
Back in the starting XI but not at his best
Jack Clarke 7
Scored the goal that got his side back into the game, and generally looked Sunderland's biggest threat
Elliot Embleton 6
Plenty of industry in the final third
Alex Pritchard 6
Played up front and used the ball intelligently
Subs
Jewison Bennette 6
For Roberts 63mins. His pace gave Sunderland another attacking option in the final half-hour
Amad Diallo N/A
For Pritchard 77mins.
Abdoullah Ba N/A
For Embleton 77mins.
Jay Matete N/A
For Neil 77mins.
Not used: Bass, Cirkin, Wright
READ NEXT:
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- Sunderland's homegrown number one Anthony Patterson wins praise from Tony Mowbray
- Tony Mowbray explains why Sunderland U21s' star striker is too 'raw' for the Championship
- Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray on making changes at Swansea, with Jewison Bennette a candidate
- Lynden Gooch backs Sunderland to rediscover scoring touch after creating chances against Blackpool
