Regis le Bris has already identfied Sunderland’s issues at Plymouth and ‘many questions to solve’
The Black Cats lost for the first time in a league game under the Frenchman after a battling 3-2 defeat to Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle inflicted Sunderland’s first Championship defeat of the season and Black Cats’ head coach Régis Le Bris admitted, “we were too open and allowed our opponent too many opportunities to score.”
Wayne Rooney’s side were able to scrape their first win of the campaign as Le Bris tasted defeat for the first time in the league as the Wearsiders boss. Le Bris says he hopes to learn from the loss which came late in the day as the Devon side scored their winner four minutes into stoppage time.
The result didn’t knock Sunderland off top spot, though, to show just what a superb start they have had to the campaign. Patrick Roberts handed the Black Cats a first-half lead from the penalty spot after Chris Rigg was pushed inside the box.
Rooney’s men fought back and turned the game on its head, through a Dan Ballard own goal and a Ryan Hardie spot kick. Romaine Mundle levelled in the 86th minute before Joe Edwards’ late winner left Le Bris with “many questions to solve.”
“I am disappointed because it was a tough game but we scored twice,” he said. “It is never easy to score but we did it. We had many problems during the first half to control their wingers.
“It wasn’t easy to solve that problem and during the second half we conceded two goals on the defensive transition. We were too open and the opponent had too many opportunities to score.
“Our fans were behind us as they always are. I want to thank them because during this tough game they were behind us and we felt their support. This is still important because we are in a process. The difference between a win and a defeat is very thin.
“Our process is still ongoing but we need to learn very quickly. We made some mistakes today that we have never made before so we will have many this week.”
Le Bris made one change on Devon’s south coast, as team captain Dan Neil returned in place of Alan Browne. The former Preston North End midfielder featured on the bench, which included deadline-day arrivals Chris Mepham and Milan Aleksic, and youngsters Trey Ogunsuyi and Tom Watson. Former Black Cat Bali Mumba made his 100th appearance for the Pilgrims.
Sunderland had been patient in the opening stages in the opening stages, and they were awarded a penalty with 22 minutes played when Rigg was tripped in the box. Roberts stepped up and coolly dispatched the spot kick, sending debutant Dan Grimshaw the wrong way.
