Sunderland fell to their third home league defeat in a row against Brighton on Saturday

Sunderland fell to their third league home defeat in a row against Brighton on Saturday afternoon, in a game defined by the finest of margins.

The Black Cats thought they had taken a valuable lead early in the second half when Chris Rigg, excellent on his return to the league XI, scored on his weaker foot only for a VAR check to rule Omar Alderete had assisted him from an offside position. Only minutes more had been played when from a corner of their own, Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh sliced a cross from a narrow angle that flew into the back of the net.

Both sides had traded good chances in an entertaining contest, little between the two in the first half even if Jack Hinshelwood had spurned the two best chances. Sunderland were much improved from their dismal showing against Port Vale and will feel it was a day where luck went against them, but the big concern ahead of next weekend’s Tyne-Wear derby is just how stretched their squad now looks with added injury issues.

Stung by their FA Cup defeat to Port Vale, Sunderland's problems increased ahead of kick off with both Enzo Le Fee and Nilson Angulo ruled out due to injury. Though Le Fee's injury is not thought to be serious and he could yet feature in the Tyne-Wear derby, Angulo has become the latest winger to suffer a significant injury and will miss at least a month of action.

Those injuries presented opportunity for Chris Rigg on the right and Chemsdine Talbi on the left, and both were at the heart of an enterprising start from the Black Cats who were clearly keen to get on the front foot having reached their initial league target of 40 points. There was much encouragement for Sunderland in their early play, though they were unable to make more of some set play opportunities and nearly fell behind with Brighton's first effort. Yankuba Minteh, in for the side due to Kaoru Mitoma's ankle injury, whipped in a wicked cross from the left where Jack Hinshelwood seemed certain to score from a matter of yards. He connected with the cross and got his effort on target, but Ellborg made a fine save with his trailing leg. Sunderland swept up the other end and had their best chance of the half, Brobbey getting a head on a cross from the right with Talbi's powerful drive cleared off the line well by Lewis Dunk.

It was an entertaining, open contest but in the spell following those two chances, Brighton looked on occasion a little to sharp and good for the hosts with the speed of their passing and their movement off the ball. Hinshelwood was presented with another golden opportunity when Welbeck sprung the Sunderland offside trap, cutting back inside and teeing the midfielder up with a fine pass. The midfielder could only fire straight at Ellborg, who made a fine save.

It was Brighton's last real chance of the half, aside from some very dangerous crosses from the left flank. Having looked a little on the ropes Sunderland steadied and finished the half in the ascendancy, spurning one good opening when Xhaka found Talbi but his heavy first touch prevented him getting a shot away. Sunderland continued to push forward with Geertruida increasingly influential, his cross from the right bouncing into the path of Rigg whose audacious volley back over his head dropped just wide of the far post.

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Sunderland and Rigg thought they had taken the lead right at the start of the half when Xhaka took a free kick from deep short, Hume finding Alderete with a long pass forward. His header found Rigg at the far post and though his clever right-footed effort beat Verbruggen and found the far corner, a VAR check eventually confirmed that Alderete was in an offside position when he made the header. It had been an excellent start to the half from the Black Cats, who went close again when pressing well from a Brighton goal kick and forcing Dunk to play a pass into the feet of Brobbey. The striker set himself with his first touch but forced over the bar with his second, a good opportunity spurned.

Sunderland had made a strong start to the half but found themselves behind to an unfortunate goal, though they will be frustrated to have given away a corner and then failed to clear their lines from the initial delivery. The attempted clearance ran to Minteh, who then showed good footwork and a turn of pace to get away from Xhaka and reach the byline. His attempted cross on his weaker foot was a clear miskick, but caught Ellborg off guard at his near posgt and flew into the back of the net. Van Hecke looked possibly to be stood in front of Ellborg from an offside position, but the goal was given after a check.

Sunderland responded well and went close through long-range efforts from Diarra and then Hume, but Brighton retained a threat on the break and especially as Ballard had been forced to limp out of the action not long after the goal. Gomez missed a huge chance when the ball fell to him free in the box at the end of a strong break, but he blazed his effort over the bar to reprieve Sunderland.

Sunderland saw a lot of the ball in the closing stages and eight minutes of added time, but their lack of options from the bench caught up with them. They found it difficult to progress the ball and in truth Brighton were comfortable defending their box with very little concern. It’s this phase of the game that will worry Le Bris the most, his team looking fatigued and short of inspiration as a crucial game approaches.

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