'Superb': Phil Smith's Sunderland player rating photos after Cardiff City win - including one 9 and three 8s
By Phil Smith
Published 10th Apr 2023, 17:12 BST
Sunderland claimed a 1-0 win over Cardiff at the Cardiff City Stadium – but who stood out for T9ony Mowbray’s side?
Defender Dennis Cirkin scored the only goal of the game after converting the rebound from Alex Pritchard’s low free-kick, which was tipped onto the post by goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.
After dominating possession for most of the match, Sunderland then came under pressure in the second half but managed to see out the win.
Almost had an assist in the first half when Clarke was ruled to be offside heading home a fabulous cross. Great work rate and lots of clever touches, and a big hand in the goal as Cirkin turned in his free kick. 7 Photo: Frank Reid
Took him a while to get into the game from a deeper wing back role, but won the free kick for the goal with a trademark surge infield. Dug in late on to help his team. 7 Photo: Martin Swinney
One or two good touches but wasn’t able to hold onto possession as well as his team needed to for the most part. Plenty of promise but very much on a learning curve in terms of the physicality of this division. 5 Photo: Frank Reid