There was little praise to be dished out as Sunderland threw away three points on Saturday afternoon, drawing 2-2 with bottom club Plymouth Argyle.
Sunderland lost a great opportunity to gain ground in the promotion race after drawing 2-2 with Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
Regis Le Bris watched as his team recovered from behind to lead 2-1, only to drop a scrappy equaliser and take a point at the Stadium of Light.
Trai Hume was undoubtedly Sunderland’s greatest performer against Plymouth. The Northern Irishman helped Wilson Isidor for the first goal before scoring the second himself.
However, Anthony Patterson behind him had a difficult afternoon. Sunderland fans slammed Patterson for failing to come out and retrieve the ball as Plymouth equalised in injury time.
Patterson, however, may not have been the worst player on the pitch on Saturday. Chris Mepham, according to journalist Michael Graham, had a ‘total stinker’.
Michael Graham critical of Chris Mepham after Plymouth Argyle draw
This season, Mepham has established himself as a regular in Sunderland’s starting eleven. He’s kept Dan Ballard out of the starting lineup for much of the season, and he’s already appeared 23 times in the Championship after joining on loan from Bournemouth this summer.
He’s usually the rock in the back. Mepham has received high acclaim at Sunderland, but as Graham points out, his performance against Plymouth was not his best in red and white.
Mepham was caught facing the wrong way when the ball ricocheted off him for their first goal, which Patterson subsequently scored on himself. Mepham was not his normal authoritative self in the rear, prompting Graham to post on X:
Chris Mepham is in the form of his life at Sunderland
This Plymouth game comes just days after Don Goodman praised Mepham’s form at Sunderland, claiming that the 27-year-old centre-back is playing better than he has in his whole career.
Goodman recently stated: “This is the best I’ve ever seen him play in his career.” “He has been a rock.” Every player has off days, as Mepham had against Plymouth, and it’s now a matter of bouncing back.
Le Bris is unlikely to be unduly affected by the Plymouth defeat. Despite the dropped points, there is still a long way to go in the season, and it’s easy to forget that Sunderland is only four points behind league leaders Leeds United, who face Burnley on Monday.
A draw in that game would be ideal from a Sunderland perspective. The Black Cats’ next game is against Middlesbrough on Monday, February 3rd.
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