Sunderland

Gills denied a point in the closing stages at Sunderland. Nathan Broadhead scored in the dying seconds as Sunderland won all three points in 1-0 win against ...

Corry Evans had a big chance for the hosts with a little over ten minutes remaining. Pritchard’s corner was headed towards the goal and took a bounce off a Gillingham player and then onto the woodwork. Pritchard had the first chance of note in the second half. Fortunately for the visitors, the ball fell on the other side of the post. A long ball over the top eventually found its way to the forward. He was in acres of space from a tight angle and decided to strike on the half volley.

Sunderland are back in action today – and we'll have all the action covered as Alex Neil's side face Gillingham at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland found a way through Gillingham right at the death thanks to a great cross from Embo and a cracking header from Broadhead.

Which he did to great effect with a superb ball onto the head of Broadhead. Put in a great cross for the winner and he provided some much needed creativity from central midfield. Probably should be one or the other in this type of game.

Sunderland Head Coach, Alex Neil, looks on during the Sky Bet League One match. Sunderland head coach Alex Neil (Image: PA).

"What we had to do is find a solution and a way to break them down, which we eventually did. He said: "What we spoke about before the game was 'don't get frustrated'. "I've looked at the stats - we had 80 percent of the possession, five shots at goal - and I thought the performance was very good.

SUNDERLAND moved back into the play-off positions as Nathan Broadhead's stoppage-time winner secured a dramatic 1-0 win over Gillingham.

Bursting ahead of Jack Tucker, Broadhead headed home Embleton’s cross to spark wild celebrations amongst the home support. SUNDERLAND moved back into the play-off positions as Nathan Broadhead’s stoppage-time winner secured a dramatic 1-0 win over Gillingham. SUNDERLAND moved back into the play-off positions as Nathan Broadhead’s stoppage-time winner secured a dramatic 1-0 win over Gillingham.

Defences were on top during a goalless opening half and the Gills looked to be holding out at the Stadium of Light before Nathan Broadhead headed home at the ...

Reeves made a couple of crucial interceptions inside his own box as Sunderland kept knocking. There were some more nervy moments for the Gills and Ben Reeves was introduced as Chambers hobbled off. Gills keeper Aaron Chapman didn’t have a great deal to do in the opening half despite Sunderland having over 80% possession. With no way through, Pritchard tried to pick out the top corner from 20 yards for Sunderland, but his curled effort went wide. Just five substitutes from a possible seven were named. It was the start of a shift in gear for the hosts as they looked to get at Gills from the flanks.

Sunderland took a last gasp win against Gillingham this afternoon after Ross Stewart struggled to break down his opponents over the game.

According to SofaScore, Stewart was rated the worst player on the pitch (6.0) and with good reason, considering that his team had 25 shots and he didn’t have a single one on or off target throughout the day. Stewart will quickly need to put this uncharacteristic off-day behind him, though. One player who had one of his worst performances in a Sunderland shirt this season was the current League One top scorer Ross Stewart, who dropped an absolute stinker in front of the home fans and almost cost Alex Neil’s side an important win with his complete lack of attacking output against the Gills.

Sunderland are back in the top six after Nathan Broadhead scored the only goal in injury time.

Gillingham's only effort of any real note in the first period saw Charlie Kelman blaze a shot over the bar from a tight angle inside the penalty area on the left. A few minutes later, Roberts cut into the penalty area from the right and brought a good stop out of Chapman, who dived to his right to push the ball clear. Jack Clarke had an early half-chance but failed to make good contact, allowing Chapman to make a simple save, and Pritchard curled an effort over the top from 25 yards.

Gillingham manager Neil Harris praised opponents Sunderland for capitalising on the late mistake at the back from his side.

“I thought Sunderland were excellent in spells of the game and really made it difficult for us to get out of our half, they showed their quality that they possess as a football club and there are a lot of questions asked about how they are playing at this level. You can’t switch off for a moment because you get punished against good players and that is what Sunderland did, good players found a way to score against us. The Gills struggled to make chances themselves but Harris knew his side would be up against it, saying: “Sunderland, with two experienced Championship centre halves, they dominated the middle of the pitch.

Alex Neil said his Sunderland side got what they deserved after Nathan Broadhead's late header lifted them back into the top six.

"At the moment, it’s hard for us to break teams down because they’re playing with banks of ten behind the ball. What you can’t be is easy to play against, and let teams score against you, and then not be able to create going the other way. What you do when you’ve got the ball, and what you do when you don’t have it.

Sunderland left it late to secure a crucial 1-0 win over Gillingham at the Stadium of Light – but how did each Black Cats player fare?

7Missed a couple of good chances from corners but won the vast majority of his defensive headers, which is precisely why he was brought back into the fold for this game. 6Defensively sound for the most part and made a couple of good covering challenges when called upon. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs EditorLittle to do in terms of shot-stopping but another mature showing in terms of his command of the box.

Sunderland boss Alex Neil prioritised tightening up the Black Cats defence when he took over, and it has paid dividends.

It is what it is, and I knew that when I took the job. What you do when you've got the ball, and what you do when you don't have it. "If we hadn't won, I would have got booed, they [the players] would have got booed, and we would all have been cr*p and been told to do one," he said.

Neil Harris praised an 'excellent' Sunderland performance after watching his Gillingham side fall to a 95th minute defeat at the Stadium of Light on ...

But I said to the whole group afterwards, if you want to compete against the big clubs and in the higher divisions, you have to play for as long as the referee says you have to play. This is probably the game I've feared most in my time here because I knew the quality they've got and also the work that Alex [Neil] would do during his two weeks without a game. "You look at the front four that have started, tens of millions they have moved for at stages of their career.

A 95th-minute header from substitute Nathan Broadhead proved to be huge as Sunderland moved back into the Sky Bet League One play-off places with a crucial ...

For another weekend, the Black Cats were far from their best. The first half was, more or less, summed up with Alex Neil’s animation on the touchline before the break - he was clearly frustrated by his side’s lack of quality and their overall quality in their performance, and in a sense, it was hard to disagree with that idea. Both Patrick Roberts and Alex Pritchard were influential in the final third, whilst Jack Clarke held a threat on the opposing wing, but all too often, their creativity was taken a touch too far, and the home side had to resort back to square one. In summary, it feels like a repeated message for Alex Neil’s side over the last couple of weeks, as for all they pushed forward, they couldn’t find a way through, and Aaron Chapman in the Gillingham goal was left largely untroubled. Sunderland were out of the blocks quick in the opening stages: much of their play in the opening exchanges was fluent, but ultimately lacking in end-product. Otherwise, Alex Neil’s side were heading for another case of two massive points dropped in their play-off battle, as despite dominating and proving to be the better side, they failed to create anything meaningful throughout the 90.