ON THIS DAY (27TH JULY 2019): SUNDERLAND LOSE PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY AT THE SOL!
One moment of high quality was the difference between Jack Ross’s Sunderland and Dutch side SC Heerenveen as the two sides played out a pre-season friendly at the Stadium of Light just a week before the club’s first League One game of the season against Oxford.
After losing the playoff final to Charlton, the pre-season was a tough one for Ross, with mounting criticism at the standard of performance produced by his side along with the lack of goalscoring threat, as the team shot blanks in their final three encounters.
This criticism was compounded by the fact that January transfer window’s big money signing Will Grigg was had struggled immensely since joining the club.
Pressure was on the Northern Irish international to produce a big season in League One but pre-season didn’t show much in the way of hope for the fans that this would happen.
The game itself, played in front of 6,645 fans, was a typically tepid affair where both teams certainly did not seem to be at full tilt, and the fact that the best chances we created in the first half came from set pieces summed up perfectly what kind of game it was.
Grant Leadbitter’s corner was bundled goalwards by Conor McLaughlin but was kept out on the line by a Dutch defender, and when the ball fell back to McLaughlin his header hit the crossbar.
Aside from that, there were few chances for either side for the sparse crowd to get excited about.
The game was somewhat better in the second half with Leadbitter seizing on a loose ball just outside the penalty area to drill a shot at goal, but Hahn in the Heerenveen goal made an excellent stop.
At the other end, Daniel Hoegh headed just wide at the near post from a corner.
Minutes later, the away side eventually took the lead through an outstanding finish from outside the box.
And the visitors went in front on 69 minutes when Hitcham Faik unleashed an unstoppable shot from 30 yards which left McLaughlin no chance as it flew into the top left-hand corner.
In fairness to Sunderland, we responded well and peppered the Heerenveen goal for the final twenty minutes in search of an equaliser.
The aforementioned Grigg went closest with an opportunity which would’ve done wonders for his confidence going into the new season.
Will Grigg executed a neat turn and rifled a shot into the side netting from inside the box.
In the final ten minutes, we hit the woodwork for the second time when Elliot Embleton’s free-kick from outside the box eluded everybody inside the penalty area and came back off the inside of the far post, marking the last opportunity for us as we went down 1-0.
With injuries to Duncan Watmore and Charlie Wyke, along with the impending exit of Bryan Oviedo, the mood around Wearside was fairly bleak going into the new season, with the crowd fanbase expecting promotion after last season’s playoff defeat.
The team would draw 1-1 with Oxford on the first day out but Ross wouldn’t even make it to Christmas, with Phil Parkinson taking his place.
At this point, things would still get a whole lot worse before they got better.
Sunderland: J McLaughlin, C McLaughlin, Willis (Ozturk 87), Flanagan, Gooch (O’Nien 67), Leadbitter (Dobson 76), McGeouch (Power 83), Hume, Kimpioka (McNulty 55), Embleton, Grigg. Subs not used: Burge, Baldwin
Heerenveen: Hahn, Floranus, Hoegh (Skovgaard 59), Dresevic (Botman 46), Woudenberg, Kongolo (Ajujobi 78), Rienstra, Faik, Van Bergen, Odgaard, Bruijn (Van der Heide 51). Subs not used: Frederiksen, Bednarek, Doornbusch, Hajal, Ras