Tottenham remain in the relegation zone after defeat in their new manager’s first game. Check out the best Opta data from the game with our Sunderland vs Tottenham stats page.
Desperate in their attempts to stave off relegation, Tottenham made one last roll of the dice two weeks ago by appointing Roberto De Zerbi as their manager. Here, though, their new boss was unable to bring any change in results as Spurs fell to a seventh defeat in their last eight Premier League games to remain mired in the relegation zone.
It is now 105 days since Spurs won a Premier League game, and after this loss, their 16th in 32 league matches this season, there was no change in the fact that they are staring at the very concerning, very real possibility of demotion to the second tier for the first time since the mid-1970s.
Although Sunderland relied on a heavy deflection for the win, they were still good value for three points, having had the better chances and kept Spurs largely at arm’s length. Despite badly needing to win this game, Spurs mustered just 0.91 xG over the 90 minutes.
The hosts, on the other hand, had decent chances throughout. In the first half, Granit Xhaka dragged a shot wide from the edge of the box with his weaker right foot, and Nordi Mukiele failed to get proper contact on a header when unmarked at the back post. Brian Brobbey had the best chance of the half, but stand-in Spurs goalkeeper Antonín Kinsky raced off his line to thwart the Sunderland centre-forward down low.
The most notable moment from a Spurs perspective came midway through the first half when they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Randal Kolo Muani, but the decision was overturned after a lengthy VAR review. Spurs remain one of only two teams, along with Aston Villa, who are yet to be given a penalty in the Premier League this season.
Although both teams had good chances, it was a feisty first half, which was characterised by the referee cautioning players. Only three Premier League games this season have seen more yellow cards in the first half than this one (four), with three of those cards going to members of Tottenham’s back four. The other was for Sunderland forward Brian Brobbey, who enjoyed a physical battle with Spurs’ centre-backs.
After the break, the deadlock was finally broken, but only thanks to a highly fortunate goal. Mukiele drove infield at the end of a 12-pass Sunderland move, and his shot from the edge of the box took a huge deflection off Micky van de Ven to leave a wrongfooted Kinksy completely helpless.
It was the 23rd Premier League game in which Spurs have gone behind this season, and they have now failed to win all of them (D7 L16).
After West Ham had beaten Wolves on Friday night, and with Nottingham Forest earning a point against Aston Villa on Sunday, Spurs could scarcely have needed a route back into the game more. But they struggled terribly to create chances as they have done for much of this season, and after going behind, they barely had a sigh of Roefs’ goal.
Sunderland held firm to secure a win that takes them into the top half of the table and means they remain in the fight to qualify for Europe next season, now just one point behind seventh-placed Brentford.
Defeat for Spurs means the Opta supercomputer now rates the likelihood of relegation for the north London club at 44.9%. It’s all getting very real, and this performance, as low on creativity as they have been all season, won’t have done much to convince anyone that they can turn things around. De Zerbi has a huge job on his hands, and now an even shorter time to do it in.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Sunderland vs Tottenham stats from their Premier League meeting at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Sunderland vs Tottenham Post-Match Facts
Tottenham Hotspur have now failed to win any of their last 14 Premier League matches (D5 L9), now their outright second-longest run without a league victory in their history, behind a run of 16 between December 1934 and April 1935.
Sunderland kept their sixth clean sheet at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League this season, with only Arsenal (8) and Manchester City (7) keeping more at home in the competition this season. Their 14 goals conceded at home is again bettered only by Arsenal and Manchester City (both 11).
Aged 20 years and 31 days, Archie Gray became the second-youngest Tottenham Hotspur player to make 50 appearances for the club in the Premier League, with only Aaron Lennon (20y 12d) reaching this milestone quicker for Spurs in the competition.