Sunderland 0-0 Swansea City: Controversial calls, frustration and costly bookings explained

Sunderland were held to a frustrating 0-0 against Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts played for over an hour with ten men after Charlie Patino was shown two yellow cards, but Tony Mowbray's side found themselves unable to make the crucial breakthrough.

Here's the story of the game and its key talking points...

A PROMISING START - WITH NO END PRODUCT

Sunderland came into the game encouraged by their excellent performance against Norwich City and it is no exagerration that they were the better side here pretty much from the first whistle.

They had a big opening when Dan Neil was able to get to the edge of the box unchallenged, driving an effort over the bar when perhaps the better option would have been to slide in Patrick Roberts. Both Neil and Jobe were regularly being found goalside of Swansea's midfield, with the hosts unable to stop Sunderland playing through them.

The Black Cats should have taken the lead when Jobe slid Rusyn in on goal, but he lost his footing at the crucial moment and on his weaker foot could only slide well wide of the far post. Rusyn was then just unable to meet Neil's low cross from the byline, before Clarke drew a strong save from Rushworth when another low cross broke to him at the back post.

A CONTROVERSIAL RED

Three fouls and two yellows felt harsh on Swansea City midfielder Charlie Patino, with one of those a handball for which he was not shown a card.

The other fouls were almost identical, Pierre Ekwah twice doing very well to protect the moving ball and beat Patino to it. On both occasions, Patino left his foot in and undoubtedly caught Ekwah's ankle. Whether they warranted Patino's dismissal was a different question, but it did reflect Ekwah's dominance of the midfield battle.

Sunderland looked likely to go ahead in the minutes afterwards, Roberts cutting in from the right and drawing a good low stop from Rushworth, who was slightly fortunate to see the ball bobble off the post and bounce straight back into his arms.

PATTERSON SPARES HIS DEFENDER'S BLUSHES

Swansea had barely entered Sunderland's penalty box and yet at the start of stoppage time, they had a golden chance to go ahead. O'Nien was adjudged to have dragged down his opposite number from a corner - a foul no doubt and yet also one that you see go unpunished on a regular basis.

Jamal Lowe took a staggered run up but Patterson held his nerve, guessing the right way and saving well. The way he was mobbed by his team mates straight after and the substitutes immediately afterwards told you how big a moment it was in the game.

SUNDERLAND LABOUR

Swansea appeared galvanised by the refereeing controversy and in truth, the visitors started the second half poorly - unable to build any real spell of possession or territorial dominance.

An early triple substitution from Mowbray reflected that, as Sunderland finally began to carve out regular efforts with around 25 minutes to play. Ekwah drove an effort just wide of the post from the edge of the box, before Rushworth made an excellent reflex save as Ballard's header struck O'Nien and headed towards goal.

Sunderland were then denied by an excellent block in the box with five to play, Dack denied after pulling into space to meet Clarke's cutback. It said much all the same that this was the first real big chance that Mowbray's side had forged inside the box in the second half.

Swansea were now hanging on, and substitute Abdoullah Ba was unlucky to see a brilliant effort on his weaker left foot strike the bar and bounce clear.

RUSYN'S AFTERNOON ENDS IN FRUSTRATION

Rusyn's afternoon started brightly, that missed chance a result of a well-timed run in behind the defence. He also was inches away from getting on the end of a good cross from Dan Neil shortly afterwards, but the chances began to dry up after that.

The Ukrainian worked hard throughout the game but was unable to make any impression on the second half and so it was no great surprise that Mowbray turned to Luis Hemir in the hope that his penalty-box presence would pay off.

There were some good signs from Rusyn again and he clearly has the athleticism to press as Mowbray wants, but it's undeniably a work in progress.

A POINT ON THE BOARD - BUT A DISAPPOINTING RESULT IN THE END

Sunderland were unfortunate to a large extent not to take three points from this game, given that they hit the woodwork on three occasions through the game and clearly were the dominant force. That was the case even before the red card.

Yet it is also true that they didn't create anywhere near the level of chances inside the box that you would have expected from a side playing for over an hour with an extra player of the pitch.

It wasn't really until the last twenty minutes that they pushed Swansea right back into their own box, and from there the home side defended resolutely.

Mowbray also now has a big selection worry for Birmingham City's visit to the Stadium of Light next weekend, as both Dan Ballard and Luke O'Nien picked up yellow cards that will see them suspended for the game.

Sunderland XI: Patterson; Hume, Ballard (Cirkin, 75), O'Nien, Huggins (Dack, 56); Ekwah, Neil (Ba, 78); Roberts, Jobe (Pritchard, 56), Clarke; Rusyn (Hemir, 56)

Subs: Young, Burstow, Aouchiche, Seelt

Swansea City XI: Rushworth; Ashby, Humphreys, Darling, Tymon; Grimes, Paterson (Cabango, 77); Yates (Cooper, 68), Lowe, Patino; Cullen (Fulton, 45)

Subs: Fisher, Pedersen, Cabango, Tjoe-A-On, Naughton, Walsh, Congreve

Bookings: Patino, 10 Rusyn, 20 Fulton, 48 Ballard, 52 Darling, 80 O'Nien, 90

Red Card: Patino, 31

Attendance: 16,974