What went wrong for Sunderland in 2-1 defeat at Ipswich Town?

The Black Cats fell behind when Luke O’Nien’s first-half error enabled Julio Enciso to break clear, with the forward breaking clear to square for fellow summer signing, Emersonn, to roll home.

Sunderland equalised six minutes before the break, with Nilson Angulo curling home a superb free-kick via the underside of the crossbar after Granit Xhaka had been fouled.

However, they conceded again in the final minute when another mistake, this time from substitute Omar Alderete, enabled Sasa Lukic to set up former Sunderland winger Jack Clarke for a side-footed winner.

What were the main talking points from the season opener?

IT HAD TO BE CLARKE

Clarke had some brilliant moments in a Sunderland shirt. The winger scored 27 goals in his 94 appearances for the Black Cats, and was the club’s best player when he left to join Ipswich in the summer of 2024 in a £20m deal.

Things haven’t really gone to plan for him in Suffolk, and he spent most of last season’s promotion-winning campaign performing as a super-sub. It was a role he reprised superbly this afternoon, to Sunderland’s cost.

Clarke came off the bench in the 71st minute, replacing Enciso, and hadn’t really threatened before Alderete’s misplaced pass led to him breaking towards the edge of the area in the 90th minute.

He opened up his body in a way that would have been all-too-familiar to Sunderland supporters, and curled an excellent low finish past Robin Roefs. A miserable way to end things for the Black Cats, although they only had themselves to blame, having effectively handed Ipswich both of their goals on a plate.

ERRORS AT THE BACK

O’Nien’s evolution into a Premier League player has been one of the real feelgood stories behind Sunderland’s rise through the leagues in the last few seasons.

The former Wycombe centre-half slotted into the back four effectively in the second half of last season and generally performed well. He has a mistake in him though, as proved by the early stages of last season’s Tyne-Wear derby win when he presented the opener at St James’ to Anthony Gordon, and this was another howler the 31-year-old will not want to see again.

He had plenty of time to pick out a pass as he strode towards the halfway line, but his ball out of defence was easily intercepted by Enciso, who then skipped past Dan Ballard before squaring for Emersonn to roll home.

O’Nien would almost certainly not have been starting this afternoon had either Alderete or Nordi Mukiele been fully fit, and while he was eventually replaced by Alderete midway through the second half, he had already committed another error by that stage that led to him being booked for hauling down Enciso after he had turned into trouble against the Paraguayan.

Le Bris displayed his ruthless side when he jettisoned the likes of Anthony Patterson and Dan Neil in the wake of winning promotion. O’Nien is a thoroughly likeable personality and a big character in the dressing room – how many more chances will Le Bris given him, though, before deciding that enough is enough?

The problem, in terms of today’s game however, was that his replacement, Alderete, proved every bit as vulnerable.

Passing out of defence in the final minute of the game, Alderete failed to pick out a team-mate, instead rolling the ball straight to Sasa Lukic. He squared for Clarke, and the former Sunderland winger did the rest.

Two centre-halves; two very costly errors.

ANGULO’S ARROW

Angulo didn’t really get much of a chance to prove himself in a Sunderland shirt after signing from Anderlecht in January, with an injury restricting the 23-year-old to just five Premier League starts in the second half of last season.

He had a superb summer though, scoring and starring in Ecuador’s historic win over Germany in the Met Life Stadium, and carried that form into the opening game of the new domestic campaign.

Lively and direct down the left-hand side, Angulo was already catching the eye by the time he stepped up to fire in a free-kick after Xhaka had been fouled five yards or so outside the 18-yard box. What followed next was sublime, with Angulo curling home a superb goal via the underside of the crossbar to open his account with Sunderland.

The Ecuadorian was replaced by Chemsdine Talbi on the hour mark, but with the Black Cats’ wide positions in a state of flux as sporting director, Florent Ghisolfi, continues to try to broker a deal for Sporting’s Geny Catamo, Angulo did his chances of securing an extended run in the team no harm with a bright performance.

MEUNIER MAKES HIS DEBUT

Thomas Meunier missed Sunderland’s final pre-season friendly against Rennes because of a minor injury issue. Seven days on from the last of the warm-up games at the Stadium of Light though, and the summer signing was passed fit to make his full Black Cats debut at Portman Road.

Meunier started at right-back, and immediately looked at home in the Premier League, proving the value of signing tried and tested experience. The 34-year-old might not be one of the most heralded summer signings in the English top-flight, but as a free agent following his departure from Lille, Sunderland look to have done well to lure the Belgium international to Wearside.

Meunier’s presence in the starting side meant Regis Le Bris was able to push Trai Hume further forward into the advanced attacking role he had filled for much of the second half of last season.

Is Hume a right-back playing out of position when stationed in an attacking right-wing role? Or do we increasingly need to see the Northern Ireland international as a player who has transformed himself in the last six months or so and who is now more of a midfielder than a defender?

Time will tell, but this was another afternoon when Hume certainly didn’t look out of place in the final third.