adminRégis Le Bris delivers verdict on Sunderland’s defeat at Man City and what went wrong
Sunderland suffered a 3–0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Friday afternoon, with head coach Régis Le Bris admitting his side couldn’t match the required intensity to compete with the champions.
First-half goals from Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol put City firmly in control before Phil Foden’s header in the second half wrapped up the points.
The Black Cats did produce some bright moments after the break, with Wilson Isidor and Granit Xhaka both going close, but they never truly threatened to change the outcome.
Speaking after the match, Le Bris said the performance fell short of the levels Sunderland reached in their impressive display at Liverpool earlier in the week.
“Repeating high-level performances is always difficult,” he said. “Three days ago at Anfield we showed a very strong version of Sunderland, but today we lacked intensity.
It just wasn’t enough to be competitive. We defended well and tried to play through their pressure, but it still wasn’t at the level required.”
Le Bris substituted Xhaka and Noah Sadiki shortly after Foden’s goal but dismissed any suggestion that the upcoming derby affected his team’s mindset.
He instead reflected positively on a week in which Sunderland collected four points from three games.
“Maybe the derby played a small part, but I don’t think it was in the players’ minds,” he added. “They tried to give everything.
We faced one of the best teams in Europe — they were fresh, sharp and fully competitive. Losing to Manchester City is not unusual; many teams will struggle here. We’ll take the lessons and be ready for the derby.”
Sunderland’s afternoon worsened late on when Luke O’Nien was sent off just minutes after coming on as a substitute. Initially booked for a late challenge on Matheus Nunes, the yellow card was upgraded to red following a VAR review.
According to the Premier League match centre, the challenge was deemed to have endangered the safety of the opponent.
As a result, O’Nien will serve a three-match suspension, ruling him out of the derby against Newcastle United next weekend, as well as the fixtures against Brighton and Leeds United over the festive period.
The decision comes at a difficult time for Le Bris, who is also set to lose Reinildo and Arthur Masuaku to AFCON duty after next weekend’s match.
The Premier League explained the call: “After VAR review, the referee overturned the original yellow card to O’Nien and issued a red card for serious foul play.
Referee announcement: ‘After review, Sunderland No.13 commits a challenge which endangers the safety of the opponent. My final decision is red card.’”
admin
