Sunderland’s Nazariy Rusyn question after Tony Mowbray’s big selection call against Norwich City

After Sunderland had fallen behind in the first half against Norwich there was a moment when Nazariy Rusyn charged forward to close down Canaries centre-back Ben Gibson.

A crunching tackle from the Ukrainian forward led to a big applause from the Stadium of Light crowd, who appreciated the effort they were seeing from their summer signing. This was Rusyn’s first senior start for the Black Cats since his move from Zorya Luhansk on transfer deadline day, with the player finding challenges with the language barrier since his move to Wearside.

There were times in the first half when Rusyn appeared frustrated as his runs weren’t picked out by his Sunderland teammates. Still, he persisted against a Norwich side which was content to sit deep while trying to pose a threat on the counter attack.

As a result Rusyn didn’t have many opportunities to use his athleticism to run in behind the Canaries’ backline. The 25-year-old was often deployed on the left flank for Luhansk last season but found himself playing through the middle here, with Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts Sunderland’s first choice wide options.

Against Norwich, who were eventually beaten 3-1, Rusyn came up against two established Championship centre-backs in Gibson and Shane Duffy, who are both over 6 foot, meaning high balls into the box were always going to be challenging for the forward to connect with. According to Wyscout only five of the Black Cats’ 22 crosses (22.7 per cent) were successful.

Whether Rusyn can become a regular goalscorer for Sunderland remains to be seen, as he didn’t really receive a clear sight at goal here, registering only two touches in the opposition’s box during his 75 minutes on the pitch. One of those came after Clarke’s cutback from the left, yet Gibson was alert to take the sting out of Rusyn’s effort.

Still, there were some encouraging signs that Rusyn can be effective leading the line. His off-the-ball run created space for Dan Neil to score Sunderland’s second goal on the stroke of half-time, while the Ukrainian almost created a third moments later after a quick run down the right where a cross for Clarke was headed wide.

Head coach Tony Mowbray said after the game Rusyn would receive another opportunity to impress as Sunderland look to find the right combination up front.