Sunderland player ratings vs Leeds – Habib Diarra the saviour as 4/10 teammate struggles

Sunderland sealed their third away win of the season in the Premier League against Leeds after Habib Diarra scored a late penalty.

The two sides played out a first half of few chances, as Leeds midfielder Anton Stach went closest with a fierce free kick that was parried away by Sunderland stopper Melker Ellborg.

Joe Rodon thought he had finally broken the deadlock in the 64th minute as he crashed home a header from a Stach free-kick, but it was quickly ruled out for offside by VAR.

Sunderland were then handed a huge chance to go ahead after a penalty was given when Ethan Ampadu handled the ball in the area, and Habib Diarra converted from the spot.

Sources have told Football Insider that Black Cats owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is investing well behind the scenes, and they are now up to 11th in the Premier League following their 1-0 win at Elland Road.

Habib Diarra – Man of the match

There were few standouts among the Sunderland ranks against Leeds, as they fought more as a team, rather than relying on individual quality.

Diarra, though, did impress throughout in the middle of the park, and was the eventual game winner as his penalty crept past Karl Darlow, who will feel like he should have done more to stop it.

He won two fouls and was successful in five of his eight combined ground and aerial duels, and it would have been easy to pass on spot kick responsibility to Enzo Le Fee in such a pressure situation.

The Black Cats’ record signing instead stepped up when it mattered, and earns an eight out of 10 rating as a result.

Eliezer Mayenda struggled to make any kind of impact

Much like picking a man of the match, there were also not many players that particularly stood out as being poor on the Sunderland side at Elland Road.

Mayenda did not really impress while on the ball, however, even if he did press the Whites’ backline with relative intensity in his 55 minutes on the pitch.

He had just nine touches of the ball and completed two of five attempted passes, while also failing to complete a successful dribble from four attempts.

Mayenda did not have a shot on goal, nor did he win any of his four attempted ground duels, and so he earns a four out of 10 for a largely ineffective performance.

Sunderland player ratings in 1-0 win vs Leeds

• Melker Ellborg – 7
• Luke O’Nien – 7
• Dan Ballard – 7
• Omar Alderete – 7
• Trai Hume – 7
• Lutsharel Geertruida – 5
• Noah Sadiki – 6
• Nilson Angulo – 7
• Habib Diarra – 8
• Enzo Le Fee – 6
• Eliezer Mayenda – 4

Substitutes

• Wilson Isidor (on for Mayenda 55′) – 6
• Granit Xhaka (on for Geertruida 55′) – 7
• Bertrand Traore (on for Angulo 89′) – N/A
• Chris Rigg (on for Traore 95′) – N/A

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