Phil Smith's verdict: Breaking down Sunderland's crucial win and why early-season signs are encouraging

Sunderland had, undoubtedly, had the better of the chances.

Lynden Gooch had burst through on goal early on, drawing a fine save from Nik Tzanev as he tried to chip him from a narrow angle.

In a strong spell just before the half hour mark, a delightful cross from Dan Neil and just evaded Ross Stewart and moments later, Neil knew he should have hit the target when meeting a cross from Gooch unmarked at the back post.

And yet the sense of Sunderland just not quite hitting their straps was unmistakable.

It had been an attacking selection from Lee Johnson, who had used his desire to give Dennis Cirkin a much-needed breather to drop another ball player into the side.

Alex Pritchard came into the number ten role, dropping Elliot Embleton back a little deeper and giving the red-and-white side an ambitious look.

There were plenty of neat touches right across that forward line through the half, but too often the final ball was lacking and there was also a clear frustration that despite those inventive moments, Sunderland were struggling to build any real spells of sustained pressure.

Part of that was down to AFC Wimbledon.

Under Mark Robinson they are pivoting, not unlike Sunderland, to a more expansive and progressive style of play.

They lined up in ambitious 4-2-2-2 system and it meant that whenever Sunderland did err in possession, they had significant numbers in forward areas to try and capitalise.

A youthful side full of running and intensity, they were able to spend long spells in possession in a way that many sides struggle to at the Stadium of Light.

And it's worth noting, when assessing this narrow victory for the Black Cats, that Robinson's side had only lost one of their previous seven games.

Robinson, impressively candid in his assessment of the game, nevertheless wanted more.

For all those bright moments, he felt the ball retention in his forward line had not been good enough and that there had perhaps been a lack of belief in some parts of his team's play.

Sunderland's preparations had been disrupted when Lee Burge suffered an injury in the warm-up, and the visitors will have felt they did not test Anthony Patterson enough on his first league start. To his credit, in those opening exchanges Patterson's distribution and composure was good.

Johnson wanted more from his side in the second half, and he got it.

There were moments, without a doubt, when you feared a repeat of that Burton Albion defeat, in which a raft of chances did not yield to a goal and then came the inevitable at the other end.

Sunderland's play in those opening exchanges of the second half was sharper and more precise, Alex Pritchard growing into the game on his full debut and Neil once again getting into excellent areas.

The Black Cats needed a slice of luck to finally beat Tzanev, Carl Winchester's long-range effort taking a wicked deflection before finding the bottom corner.

It was luck that they, and Winchester, deserved.

The Northern Irishman has had an excellent start to the campaign, the extra time on the ball he seems to get at right back allowing him to show an impressive technical ability.

That he is wholehearted in his defending and clearly committed entirely to the cause has only helped to further a growing bond with the Sunderland support.

With Tom Flanagan again strong and composed to his left, the Black Cats deserved their clean sheet and even if to the eye you feel there is more to come, they are posting impressive numbers.

As they had been against Burton, their attacking output was impressive and worthy of more.

That there is much to work on is obvious.

Cohesion will surely only improve as new summer signings begin to settle, and Johnson was blunt in warning post-match that they simply have to be more ruthless.

They were left unnecessarily vulnerable again, with Luke O'Nien perhaps fortunate to avoid red for a potential professional foul as Ayoub Assal burst through on goal. And on the one occasion Patterson did err, it was down to Neil to protect the three points with a goalline clearance from a late corner.

The win left Sunderland with nine points from four, keeping them tracking above the all important two-points-per-game standard at this early stage.

Most encouraging is that they have achieved that with a squad still very much coming together, and having produced performances that statistically give confidence those results are repeatable over a longer period.

"I'm happy with it," Johnson said of his side's start after the game.

"I wanted to beat Burton and it was difficult to come away from that game without a point at the very least.

"And I thought that made this game difficult for us, because we'd put in a big physical effort there.

"I did toy with the idea of making six or seven changes for this one, but I felt the lads deserved another chance.

"We had to stoke them up a bit at half-time just to try and find that little bit of extra intensity, and they responded.

"Overall I'm happy with the start."

In his pre-match programme notes he had said that while that defeat at Burton stung, if you are to lose a game that is the way to do it.

Being bold, creative, and with a core of young talent.

This performance was rough round the edges and particularly in that first half, but doubling down on that ambitious style eventually drew that slice of much-needed luck.

A more than solid start.

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