Sunderland U21s v Athletic Club de Bilbao report

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith takes you through everything you need to know from Sunderland's International Cup opener

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00:00Hiya, Phil here reporting from the Stadium of Light where Sunderland's Under-21s have

00:05just drawn 2-2 with Athletic Club de Bilbao. Their opening game of the International Cup

00:09campaign, a tournament they haven't actually played in since 2017. Obviously the knock-on

00:14impact of Sunderland dropping into League One and everything that happened since meant

00:17the Academy Under-21 team wasn't as strong. It says everything about how well the Academy

00:21has been rebuilt, that they can now compete again on this stage because of what they did

00:26in Premier League Two last year. So that's the first thing to say. In terms of the game

00:29itself, a game of two halves really. Sunderland pretty much completely dominated the first

00:34half. They took the lead through an excellent finish from Harrison Jones. Actually really

00:38similar in terms of style and dominance to what we've seen from Regis Lebris' side this

00:43season. Really similar. Good sort of defensive shape. Didn't press aggressively all the time

00:49but picked their moments, won the ball back, broke at speed. That's how they got their

00:52opener. Tommy Watson had a cross blocked which Harrison Jones turned into the top corner

00:56with a lovely finish. Should have really put the game to bed thereafter. Watson had

01:00a good chance, Roosan had two good chances, complete control of the game and just two

01:04sloppy goals conceded really. That meant that they went into a half-time 2-1 down which

01:08they should never have done. After the break, Bilbao were pretty much the better team. I

01:13think moved it quicker, moved it more precisely. Sunderland couldn't really put any pressure

01:18on the ball, get that press going. Then a couple of really good subs from Graham Murthy,

01:21Trey Ogunseye and Timo Tutiarov came on and completely changed the complexion of the game.

01:26Brought some real energy and in the end Watson was able to equalise. A deflected finish but

01:31a really good run and he deserved that bit of luck because he was persistent through

01:34the game. So yeah, a really good start in the National Cup campaign and I think more

01:38signs that there's some real talent in this team. Elias Lenz, who signed from Leipzig

01:42in the summer, holding midfielder. Brilliant first half hour. Such an intelligent player.

01:46He did fade thereafter but a talent. As I said, Jones took his goal well. Tommy Watson,

01:51we all know what a good player he is and again, at the heart of everything good Sunderland

01:54did tonight. So loads of talent on this side. A few first-teamers played. You might be interested

01:58to know about Perveda. Played 45 minutes. Played one lovely pass for Roosen which Roosen

02:03maybe should have done better with. Didn't think Perveda had a great game really. Lost

02:06the ball a lot defensively. Not great but 45 valuable minutes in terms of his match

02:11fitness. Jefferson Bennett also played at left-back. As you would expect, really good

02:15going forward. A real threat. Defensively did struggle against Isabodo. He was Bilbao's

02:19best player but I think to be fair to Bennett, he's never going to be a left-back going forward.

02:23I think it is an interesting one in terms of where his career is going because his applications

02:27first class, he does offer something going forward but he's playing left-back because

02:31Watson's ahead of him in the pecking order. So it's going to be interesting to see how

02:34the next few months pans out for Bennett. And also Nazri Roosen, as I mentioned, played

02:38up front. Real threat in the first half. Ran off the shoulder of the last defender really

02:42well. Had a couple of good chances that he should have done better with. Quiet in the

02:45second half and I have to say that when Ogunseyi replaced him, that really was the energy that

02:49Sunderland needed. So, valuable minutes for those. Will any of them have really forced

02:53their way into Labris' selection? Not for this weekend. I don't think. Though obviously

02:57Perveda is good for his match fitness. But yeah, a really good result to be honest from

03:02Sunderland. They'll be frustrated that they didn't get further ahead in the first half

03:06but I think they'll know that Bilbao are probably the better side in the second. So in all,

03:11a really good game, really good occasion for these young players and a decent result.

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