How a dismal derby day for Sunderland unfolded and what went wrong explained

The gap in quality undoubtedly showed and yet for Sunderland, there will be regrets about how this derby defeat played out.

Not until Sunderland were 2-0 down did they register their first real shot in anger, a Pierre Ekwah shot that looked to be goalbound saved well by Martin Dubravka. For a brief period that followed, Sunderland looked as if they could make something of a game of it.

They played forward quicker and more precisely, and finally picked some gaps in the Newcastle United midfield. Twice Alex Pritchard went close, denied only some excellent goalkeeping from Dubravka. But that, in the end, was that. Sunderland's challenged fizzled out and there was one final flurry from the visitors as they scored from the penalty spot, a needless foul that summed up a side who knew the game was up.

Of course for Sunderland to win they needed Newcastle to be well short of their best, and they most certainly were not. Any analysis of the game must acknowledge the financial chasm between these two starting XIs, and it was no major surprise that it told in phases of the game. After a rare midweek without a fixture Eddie Howe said his side had managed to recover the energy levels which had sparked their rise up the table last season and their press caused Sunderland problems almost from minute one. Sunderland looked caught between trying to play their natural passing game and going more direct, but in the end found themselves stuck somewhere between the two. The end result was to invite waves of pressure from a Newcastle United side whose quality was always going to tell.

It wasn't all about individual quality, though. Sunderland had not made any changes to their set up from the Preston North End win and Howe's side were able to pick gaps almost from minute one. With Jack Clarke staying high to try and counter, Kieran Trippier was able to overlap far too easily and create numerous crossing opportunities. On the other flank, Alex Pritchard saw little of the ball in the first half and understandably found it difficult to offer real support to Trai Hume going the other way. Michael Beale said afterwards that a number of his players had not found their level and that was most definitely the case, but this was a game when Sunderland were second best both in approach as well as performance. Given the extent to which Sunderland were second best in the game, it felt remarkable that it was not until the 84th minute that Beale made his first change - but it was also understandable to an extent given the inexperience of those sat behind him in the dugout.

As Beale said, it was an eye opener as to the gap between the level that Sunderland want to reach and where they find themselves now.

It was always a game that Sunderland could and probably would lose given Newcastle United's backers, but what was tough to stomach was for how much of the game the home side failed to throw any real punches. When they did, there were signs that there could have been something for them. It was too passive and in truth, that was a reflection of the week as a whole. On and off the pitch, Sunderland fell short in derby week.