Sunderland dropped points in the UEFA Europa League for the first time this season after they were held to a 1-1 away draw by Polish champions Lech Poznan, who battled to their first point of the league phase.
Despite overseeing wins over AZ Alkmaar and Torreense in Sunderland’s first two League Phase games, head coach Regis Le Bris travelled to Poland under pressure after his side fell to a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat in their recent outing against Bournemouth.
With that in mind, there would have been no one more relieved than the Black Cats boss when Tymur Tuterov opened the scoring after just 78 seconds.
Nilson Angulo pounced on Mateusz Lis’ underhit pass to lift the ball across for the Ukrainian forward to head home his first Sunderland goal, a week after he had an effort disallowed in Portugal.
The early opener sparked an exciting first quarter, with Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs making a crucial double stop shortly before Antoni Kozubal flicked the ball harmlessly wide from a golden one-on-one opportunity.
Roefs’ opposite number was then forced into action to keep out two Granit Xhaka efforts either side of Malick Fofana striking the inside of the post.
After taking a narrow lead into the break, the Black Cats attempted to add to their advantage inside the opening 15 minutes of the second period, with Habib Diarra firing wide shortly before Nordi Mukiele’s rising shot required Lis to tip over.
Unfortunately for the visitors, their failure to capitalise on those chances came back to bite them in the 70th minute, when Lech substitute Leo Bengtsson drilled a low shot past the unmoved Roefs after the ball dropped kindly from a deep corner, ending the club’s wait for their first goal of the main draw.
With the momentum in the home side’s favour, the Sunderland goalkeeper was called into action to pull off a superb double save, first to keep out Walemark and then Michal Gurgul’s follow-up effort from point-blank range.
Roefs’ heroics at least ensured the English outfit protected their unbeaten start to the League Phase, while Niels Frederiksen’s side will look to build upon their maiden point over the next five matchdays.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nilson Angulo (Sunderland)