{"id":724956,"date":"2026-08-02T21:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/724956\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T21:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:07:12","slug":"andys-player-ratings-sunderland-1-0-wrexham-usa-tour-ends-in-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/724956\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy\u2019s Player Ratings: Sunderland 1-0 Wrexham &#8211; USA Tour Ends in Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">An easy first game of preseason for Roefs, only really involved when bringing the ball out with his feet, when he was typically assured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Went off shortly after half time with what looked like a knock but was so good while he was on the pitch, marauding up and down the line and easily dealing with any defensive threats. Capped off a great display with a well taken goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Comfortable throughout and was never stretched by the Wrexham attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Like Ballard, he had a bit of an easy afternoon defensively but was involved in the goal when he got into the opposition half to beat a Wrexham player to the ball and headed the ball to a teammate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Another defender who had a simple game, with Sunderland controlling the ball and Wrexham not threatening down Reinildo\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Started really well, bursting forward to start attacks. Set up Brobbey, Mundle and Mukiele with good chances after getting in down the right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Controlled midfield in front of the back four, recycled the ball brilliantly and always found a teammate. Quick to put a foot in and had a great chance to score when he burst forward, played a one-two with Mundle but his shot was blocked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Another good display by Rigg in a more traditional midfield position, regularly took a good touch to spin away from an opponent and set himself away. Played a lovely reverse ball to Brobbey but the striker didn\u2019t expect it and a potential great chance got away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Played a clever ball into the feet of Brobbey for the opener, caused problems with his movement down the right and came very close to scoring just before going off but was denied by a last-ditch tackle by Callum Doyle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Played a nice one-two with Sadiki for his chance, used the ball well and had a few chances to break at pace. Probably should have scored very early on when Diarra picked him out with a good cross but he could only steer the ball wide.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Obviously not sharp enough just yet, this early into his preseason, but the Wrexham defence could not handle him at all. Held the ball up brilliantly and played a great lay off into the path of Mukiele to make it 1-0.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Did well to make himself an opportunity just after coming on, when he won the ball on the edge of the box but saw his shot clip the top of the bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Mostly tidy on the ball, other than one over hit ball over the top to Adingra. Saw a bit more action than the man he replaced but still a pretty comfortable display.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Came on for Mukiele and although he didn\u2019t get much chance to get forward, he did well defensively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Didn\u2019t really get a chance to impress going forward, with Wrexham seeing more of the ball following the mass subsitutions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Was lively from the number 10 position, drove forward on occasion and tried to get us on the front foot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Replaced Reinildo and left back and didn\u2019t look out of place against a decent Wrexham side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Not as lively as the last game but did drive into the box in the second half but picked up an injury, with the referee giving a harsh free kick against him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Sat in front of the back four and gave them protection while we looked to keep a clean sheet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Was a busier than Roefs when he came on but dealt with everything that came his way, showed good handling with a couple of sharp shots and did well to come through a crowd to punch a cross away. Did ever so well at the death to rush out and get a foot on a ball over the top with a striker bearing down on him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Made a couple of decent blocks and clearances from inside the box.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Worked hard alongside Browne, running constantly to close down the Wrexham midfielders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Replaced Adingra late on and saw a bit of the ball, putting himself about and getting on the break that saw the Wrexham goalkeeper make a vital tackle to put the ball out for a throw in when there was an open goal.<\/p>\n<p>Man of the Match: Nordi Mukiele<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Some really good performances today but my man of the match was the goalscorer, took his goal brilliantly after a clever drive into the box to get onto the end of Brobbey\u2019s lay off. Almost scored a similar goal earlier in the match following Diarra playing the ball into him but a couple of quickfire saves by the goalkeeper kept him out on that occasion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An easy first game of preseason for Roefs, only really involved when bringing the ball out with his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,47073,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-724956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-report-player-ratings","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}