Sunderland 1-2 Swansea City: Dismal first half, play-off concerns and moving Tony Mowbray tribute

A dismal first-half performance saw Sunderland fall to a third Championship defeat in a row against Swansea City.

A brace from Ronald gave the visitors a lead that they richly deserved at the break, and though Luke O'Nien's goal raised hope of a comeback it proved to be too little, too late for Sunderland and interim head coach Mike Dodds.

Here's the story of the game and its key talking points from a Sunderland perspective...

DODDS CHANGES SHAPE BUT EARLY WARNING SIGNS

Dodds' hand had been forced to a large extent by the club's lengthy injury list, with the suspended Dan Ballard and Jack Clarke sidelined alongside the likes of Patrick Roberts and Aji Alese. The interim head coach was forced into four changes, leading additionally to a change in formation.

Out of possession they shaped up in a back three, with Callum Styles at left wing back and Abdoullah Ba and Nazariy Rusyn up front. That quickly switched when they had the ball, Styles drifting into midfield and Jobe pushing up the pitch.

There was one sign of promise as a nice chipped pass from Styles found Rusyn running in behind, but his effort was over the bar. Ba also had a half chance when he cut in from the left flank and drove an effort straight at Rushworth, but there were also some alarming signs for the Black Cats. Swanse were consistently winning the ball back in dangerous areas and breaking with a huge numerical advantage, let down only by their final ball which was too often overhit. When they started to find their composure, chaos ensued.

SUNDERLAND'S WORST HALF HOUR FOR A LONG TIME

Swansea's opener was a truly superb effort, playing right from their own box under pressure to work the ball out to Placheta in space on the left. This time he landed the cross perfectly and though Patterson saved from Cullen, he could only parry the effort into the path of Ronald to score.

It began a truly woeful spell of play from Sunderland, one which would genuinely have ended up with them well and truly out of the game by half time. Placheta blazed from just a couple of yards when this time Swansea were able to work a cross from the right, a let off but one that only bought the Black Cats a temporary reprieve. O'Nien's pass was intercepted in midfield by Joe Allen, who drove towards goal and chipped a pass to Ronald. He still had a lot of work to do, but drove an excellent effort into the far corner.

Sunderland looked as if they had no answer to Swansea's press, their change of shape leaving them muddled and with no outlet. With no one to play into, time and time again they fell into the traps left by Swansea. Ronald drove another big chance just wide of the post, before Patterson then turned an attempted clearance by Leo Hjelde onto the woodwork.

Swansea were totally dominant and should have scored more from their countless openings. Dodds did eventually change shape, pushing Styles over to the right wing to allow his team to settle into a more familiar 4-3-3. That they finally started to gain some control of possession and work a couple of shooting chances for Rusyn convinced Dodds not to make personnel switches at the break.

PROMISING SIGNS

Sunderland started the second half with another loose pass that could easily have seen them go three down, but they were able to pick up where they left off from there and began for the first time to apply some pressure.

In a more familiar system the home side looked more comfortable and stopped Swansea playing out from the back, Ekwah going close with an excellent long-range effort that just whistled past the post. The crows were responding to the marked improvement, even if clear chances weren't yet flowing.

SUNDERLAND RISES FOR TONY MOWBRAY

The players had warmed up in t-shirts reading 'We're all with you Tony', a shwo fo their support for their former boss as he undergoes medical treatment. Supporters shared that sentiment by rising as one in the 60th minute, with applause and chants of 'one Tony Mowbray' ringing out across the ground. Dodds, who had spoken movingly of the the impact the former head coach had made on him during their time working together, joined in from the dugout. It was a hugely moving moment and a fitting tribute to a great man.

PRESSURE EVENTUALLY TELLS

Back on the pitch, Sunderland had taken almost complete control of possession with Swansea now rarely getting out of their own half in possession. The problem for the Black Cats was that they weren't able to turn that promising play into any real chances. With around fifteen minutes to play that finally changed, Swansea undone by some very poor set play defending. Ekwah delivered a good cross into the heart of the box, where O'Nien was unmarked and emphatically headed home.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

Sunderland continued to try and apply pressure but in truth the pattern of the half remained the same, a lot of possession but not a lot of efforts on goal. Swansea were able to see the game out and though they had been comfortably second best throughout the second half, they had limited Sunderland to very little away from set plays. A late corner almost yielded an equaliser when Patterson stooped to head towards goal, but Rushworth palmed clear to preserve the lead.

The win was a more than fair reflection on Swansea's first-half dominance, and left the Black Cats to ponder their start to the game and yet another contest in which they produced a hugely contrasting performance either side of the half-time whistle. It is a massively costly result, the play-offs further away still ahead of a daunting week of fixtures.

Sunderland XI: Patterson; O'Nien, Seelt, Hjelde (Aouchiche, 84); Hume, Ekwah, Neil, Styles (Mundle, 59); Ba (Rigg, 71), Jobe, Rusyn (Hemir, 71)

Subs: Bishop, Pembele, Burstow, Kelly, Lavery

Swansea City XI: Rushworth; Wood, Naughton (Darling, 88), Cabango; Placheta, Allen (Fulton, 62), Grimes, Tymon; Martins (Cooper, 88), Paterson (Yates, 62), Cullen (Patino, 78)

Subs: Fisher, Kukharevych, Sagoe Jr, Lissah

Bookings: Hume, 45 Cabango, 45 Paterson, 45 Darling, 90 Patino, 90

Attendance: 41,777