Made a stunning early save from Jack Hinshelwood. One or two nervy moments on the ball but largely did well - caught out by Minteh’s mishit cross that flew in. That was really unfortunate. 6 placeholder image
Made a stunning early save from Jack Hinshelwood. One or two nervy moments on the ball but largely did well - caught out by Minteh’s mishit cross that flew in. That was really unfortunate. 6 | Frank Reid

Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC player ratings v Brighton - one player takes chance on frustrating day

Phil Smith
By Phil Smith

Sunderland AFC Writer

Published 14th Mar 2026, 17:11 GMT

Sunderland were back in Premier League action when they faced Brighton on Saturday

Sunderland fell to their third home defeat in as many games when they were beaten by Brighton on Saturday.

Yankuba Minteh’s goal midway through the second half made the difference, the winger mishitting a cross following a corner but finding the back of the net with his effort.

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It was a tough one to take for Sunderland, who had seen a Chris Rigg goal overruled for offside not long before. Sunderland pushed for an equaliser but a stretched squad ran out of steam late on. Here’s how we rated all the Black Cats involved on the day...

Had a solid game in the main though it was his misplaced backpass that led to Brighton’s goal. Didn’t do much wrong defensively on his return to the XI. 6

5. LB - Trai Hume

Had a solid game in the main though it was his misplaced backpass that led to Brighton’s goal. Didn’t do much wrong defensively on his return to the XI. 6 | Frank Reid, Sunderland Echo

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Played some really good forward passes throughout the game that could have yielded more, but couldn’t clear the Brighton corner at the front post before being beaten by Minteh before his cross flew in. 6

6. CM - Granit Xhaka

Played some really good forward passes throughout the game that could have yielded more, but couldn’t clear the Brighton corner at the front post before being beaten by Minteh before his cross flew in. 6 | AFP via Getty Images

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Made some really good forward runs but in the end it was a frustrating afternoon for the midfielder. Worked hard but couldn’t quite find the quality in the final third and was on the floor when Brighton scored - he felt he was fouled but nothing was given. 5

7. CM - Habib Diarra

Made some really good forward runs but in the end it was a frustrating afternoon for the midfielder. Worked hard but couldn’t quite find the quality in the final third and was on the floor when Brighton scored - he felt he was fouled but nothing was given. 5 Photo: Danny Lawson

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Made some good forward runs and competed well as you would expect, but struggled to find that little bit of quality in the final third. 6

8. CM - Noah Sadiki

Made some good forward runs and competed well as you would expect, but struggled to find that little bit of quality in the final third. 6 | George Wood/Getty Images

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