Sunderland slip down the League One table following defeat to MK Dons

Former Sunderland striker Connor Wickham scored the winner as MK Dons beat the Black Cats 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats had high hopes for ending their four-match winless run and leapfrogging the Dons into third place in the EFL League One. Instead, they suffered a painful defeat, and with those immediately below them all achieving better results, they dropped three places down to seventh.

Sudanese striker Mo Eisa put the visitors ahead just after the break after racing onto a through ball to beat Anthony Patterson in the Sunderland goal.

To their credit, the Black Cats hit back just 10 minutes later with a fine finish from the ever-reliable Ross Stewart, who extended his tally to 19 goals for the season. However, the joy for the majority of the 30,000 fans inside the stadium was short-lived as Wickham came back to haunt his former club by scoring the winner in the 77th minute.

The result piles on the pressure on Sunderland’s new boss Alex Neil who has picked up just one point from six in his first two matches in charge. His overwhelming emotion after the match was one of frustration.

“We risked the ball in central areas and we got counter-attacked on twice and lost the game off the back of it.”

In contrast, MK Dons boss Liam Manning was delighted with the away win.

“I’m delighted for the lads. The group showed resilience, toughness, competitiveness and intensity.”

The Dons’ win moves them to within three points of second-placed Wigan Athletic, who managed a 1-1 away draw to league leaders Rotherham United on Friday night. The Millers and Latics, who currently hold the two automatic promotion spots, do however have two and three matches in hand respectively on the Dons.

Up next for Manning’s side is an away trip to Charlton on Tuesday, while Sunderland will look to end their current bad run of form with another home match against Burton Albion on the same night.

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