Goals:

0-1: Donaldson (21, Donaldson was fed down the right, cut inside Wilson before beating Ruiter in off his near post)

0-2: Donaldson (77, picked out the top corner from outside the box after he was put clear by Brooks)

1-2: Rodwell (90, glanced a header from McManaman’s cross beyond Blackman)

Bookings: Wilson (41, foul); Coutts (48, foul)

Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Carnforth) - not even the man in the middle could be blamed for this sorry Sunderland afternoon. 7

Attendance: 29,579

Entertainment: *

Sund SheffU

Shots on 1 5

Shots off 4 3

Corners 2 4

Fouls 13 13

Offsides 2 1

SUNDERLAND (3-1-4-2):

4 Ruiter: Made a couple of half decent stops but shouldn’t be beaten at his near post from distance;

5 Browning: Didn’t do too much wrong and cleared his lines when he could on the right of three at the back

5 Kone: Got his head on plenty but don’t think he enjoyed being captain too much before he was withdrawn through injury

5 Wilson: Will be annoyed to have allowed Donaldson inside for the opener but he improved after that

4 Rodwell: Didn’t impose himself enough on the game when he needed to set the tempo;

5 Honeyman: Unable to have the impact he had on games earlier in the season and hardly posed a threat

5 Ndong: Gave the ball away too often early on and needed to influence things more

6 WILLIAMS: A lively figure particularly in the first half but starved of movement in front of him

4 Galloway: A disappointing performance on the left and lacked confidence;

5 Grabban: One decent delivery in the first half for Vaughan but otherwise tamed

4 Vaughan: One effort on goal but struggled to make an impact or win headers

Subs

O’Shea (for Kone 46): Calmed things down in the middle with his experience but couldn’t influence further forward. 5

McManaman (for Vaughan 60): A nice delivery from the set-piece for Rodwell’s goal. 5

Gooch (for Honeyman 74)

(not used): Steele (gk), Jones, Matthews, Gibson.

SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-4-1-2): Blackman 6; Basham 8, Wright 6, O’Connell 6; Stevens 6, Fleck 7, Coutts 6, Freeman 6; Duffy 7 (Lundstram 67, 5); DONALDSON 8 (Evans 80), Sharp 6 (Brooks 68). Subs (not used): Eastwood, Baldock, Carter-Vickers, Lafferty.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Clayton Donaldson – displayed the movement in the final third which Sunderland’s players sadly didn’t.