Sunderland’s league unbeaten run is over: what now?

With the Championship season in full swing, Sunderland fans will be more than happy with their start to life in the second tier. The Black Cats, who beat Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley in the play-off final to earn promotion to the Championship, began the fresh campaign by drawing with Coventry City on home soil. And while that doesn’t represent a perfect start to proceedings, an away win against Bristol City would have raised spirits as Alex Neil hopes to beat the drop with an air of comfort.

Sunderland would have been frustrated with throwing two points away against Queens Park Rangers — goalkeeper Seny Dieng scored a late equaliser to complete a comeback from 2-0, sending the QPR end of the Stadium of Light into disarray. It meant the mood in the camp was dampened, and although they put up a valiant effort, Sunderland’s unbeaten run in the league finally came to an end against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Having not lost for 18 games in all competitions, defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup ended Neil’s good fortunes, and city rivals Sheffield United, one of the favourites for promotion, were the ones to draw the latest blow after an entertaining 2-1 win in Yorkshire.

You don’t need to look far to find out the latest English Championship predictions with WinDrawWin and after a strong start on home soil, Paul Heckingbottom’s side imposed themselves on the game.

The game was turned on its head when Dan Neil was brandished a red card inside half an hour for preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity, having pulled back James McAtee. The sending off was naïve from the young defender, and while he’ll learn from it going forward it put his side in a difficult situation for the remaining hour.

Not for a want of trying, Sunderland tried to press, but it was half-hearted and allowed George Baldock and Anel Ahmedhodžić far too much time on the ball down the left-hand side, the latter of which opened the scoring with a back post header.

The goal served as a blessing in disguise for the Black Cats, as it gave them a purpose to try and retain possession more. Despite a good spell in which they created a handful of half-chances, they were squandered and United’s quality eventually showed. Max Lowe put his side two goals to the good just after the interval and with the Blades asserting dominance, it looked like it could be a long trip home for the travelling fans.

Neil demonstrated his managerial experience with some well-timed substitutions. Considering he played for over an hour with 10 men, his decision making was excellent, and when Lynden Gooch pulled one back in the 55^th minute, fresh optimism arrived. Although they couldn’t find an equaliser, a few chances emerged which filled Neil with pride — the boss saying his team showed great attitude which should help them throughout a tough season.

“We made an error in the game which can happen, particularly if you are going to try risk the ball like we did,” he said. “We made a mistake, they capitalised on it, we had a man sent off, and the job becomes really, really difficult at that point.

“I thought the way the lads went about it, their effort, their understanding in being a man down but still trying to play and offer a threat when we had the opportunity to do so, I thought the effort levels were through the roof, really.”

Had Sunderland kept 11 men on the pitch, perhaps the result could have been different but right now they look like a team on the up. Just one win at the time of writing is obviously concerning, but when you consider the calibre of opposition they’ve faced — teams with years of second-tier experience and in the hunt for promotion — it’s understandable for a newly promoted team to dip in and out of form.

Managing to go unbeaten for as long as they did is certainly applaudable, but you wonder how long it will take for Neil and his side to convert those good performances into points. Wins are the currency of success in the Championship, and the Black Cats will need plenty more before they can guarantee their safety.