Sunderland 1-0 Chelsea - No Bite at the Stadium of Light

Sunderland, bottom of the table when the game began, beat us 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday. We created too little and found no answer. That is the story of this one.

Enzo Le Fée scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the first half, and we never found a way back. It is a miserable way to lose to the team at the bottom.

How the game went

The penalty came after Brian Brobbey got away from Levi Colwill and went down. Colwill was booked for protesting that Brobbey had hold of his shirt. Goalkeeper Mike Penders was even clearer afterwards. He told Sky Sports: “For me, it wasn’t a penalty. He barely touched him. I think it was the other way round. He grabbed him.”

I understand the anger, but I’m not going to hide behind it. Xabi Alonso refused to blame the officials, and he was right. He said Colwill could have defended the action better and that “It’s our mistake.” He also said he was unhappy with how we handled the situation, which we had practised in training. That is the part that stings. We knew it was coming and still gave away the penalty.

At the other end, Cole Palmer went down under pressure from Jules Ahoka and Luke O’Nien. Referee Jarred Gillett gave nothing, and a VAR review found that any contact was outside the area. So no, we can’t claim we were robbed. The decisions were not what cost us.

What cost us was everything else. Alonso told Sky Sports his side lacked speed in possession and patience against a low block, and that we did not create enough chances. He said we lacked patience, quality and creativity in the final third and “didn’t do good enough”. I can’t argue with a word of it.

Against a team sitting deep, we needed to be sharper and braver, and we weren’t. Sunderland won the individual battles. Sky Sports had us losing 63% of our first-half duels. You don’t get away with that, whatever else you do well.

The selection and the defending

Colwill and Wesley Fofana started at centre-back. Colwill had a nightmare half. Brobbey outplayed him, he gave away the penalty and he was booked. At half-time Alonso took him off, brought on Estêvão and moved Moisés Caicedo back into central defence.

I get the logic. We were chasing the game and needed more going forward. But when your answer to a centre-back problem is to drag your holding midfielder into defence, it says something about the squad’s balance. Josh Acheampong missed out after feeling discomfort the day before. João Pedro is still sidelined, and Alonso said “for sure, we miss him”. We looked like a team short of someone to lead the line, and that cost us.

The numbers make for grim reading. This was our fourth defeat in 10 league games and it drops us to fifth. We have now lost three of our first five away league matches this season, our first such start since 2015-16 under José Mourinho. It was also only our second defeat in our last 18 league matches against the bottom-placed side. The other was a 1-0 loss to Southampton in February 2023.

If you want a reminder of how different it can feel against this opposition, go back to our 7-2 win over Sunderland. That was another era. And if you want to relive another afternoon when we couldn’t find a way through, there is our goalless draw at Stoke.

Player ratings

I have only rated the players whose game I can speak about with confidence.

• Mike Penders: 6/10. He was beaten from the spot and didn’t have much chance. He was honest and fiery about the decision afterwards, and I like that.
• Levi Colwill: 3/10. Outplayed by Brobbey, booked and the man who gave away the penalty. Alonso hauled him off at half-time. That says it all.
• Wesley Fofana: 5/10. He started at centre-back in a back line that never looked settled, and we lost too many duels as a team.
• Moisés Caicedo: 6/10. He dropped into central defence for the second half and did the job asked of him. But I want him in midfield, driving us forward.
• Estêvão: 6/10. He came on at the break to give us more going forward. We needed a spark and he was one of the few who tried to find one.
• Cole Palmer: 6/10. He went down for a penalty shout that VAR ruled out because any contact was outside the area. We needed more from him in the dangerous areas.

Looking ahead

There is no time to sulk. Leeds United come to Stamford Bridge on 21 November, and we need to look very different.

First, Alonso has to sort the defending. The penalty was a mistake we had practised against, and we can’t keep handing teams a goal. Second, we need more patience and more speed in possession against sides that sit deep. I’d like us to move the ball quicker and shoot earlier. Waiting for a gap isn’t working.

Whether João Pedro is available is still uncertain. He has missed the last three league games. Whoever plays, we need a proper threat in the box.

We can’t let this become a habit. We showed no bite at Sunderland. At home to Leeds, I want to see teeth.

For more on our results this season, head to our Match Reports page, or read the latest from the Club section.