Ten-man Sunderland suffered a fresh setback in their European qualification bid as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw in their Premier League (PL) meeting with already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers, who made it eight consecutive H2H home games without defeat.
After conceding nine goals across back-to-back losses, Sunderland managed to restore some confidence with an early opener at Molineux.
Wolves’ set-piece defending left a lot to be desired as Nordi Mukiele rose high at the back post to steer the ball in from Granit Xhaka’s inswinging corner.
However, Sunderland’s celebratory mood soon turned to one of frustration when referee Paul Tierney, after consultation with the pitch-side monitor, gave Dan Ballard his marching orders in the 24th minute for pulling the hair of forward Tolu Arokodare – the defender’s first red card since being dismissed for Blackpool in October 2020.
The depleted visitors managed to get through to the break unscathed, but they could not stop their hosts from pulling level inside the opening 10 minutes of the restart with a near-carbon copy of Sunderland’s opener.
Hugo Bueno’s deep corner found the towering Santiago Bueno, who guided his downward header in at the far post to net his third PL goal of the season.
Knowing a point would do little for their European aspirations, Sunderland showed great determination to push forward in a bid to restore their advantage, despite being a man light.
Xhaka threatened with an effort from outside the box that fizzed past Dan Bentley’s left post in what proved to be one of the last meaningful chances of the contest.
Regis Le Bris’s charges ultimately had to settle for a draw that leaves them in 12th spot and three points adrift of the top seven with just three games left to play.
As for Wolves, they ended a run of three consecutive defeats, but Roefs’ late save from Adam Armstrong’s powerful header denied them their first win since the start of March.
