When searching for why Chelsea were beaten by the side who were sitting bottom of the Premier League, the temptation from Xabi Alonso might be to describe this defeat as a tale of two penalties.First, Chelsea were denied one when Cole Palmer was sandwiched by Luke O’Nien and Jules Ahoka as he entered the Sunderland area, with the officials concluding the contact occurred outside of the box.Then, Sunderland were awarded one when Brian Brobbey was brought down by Levi Colwill. The striker had hold of the defender at the same time, and arguably clipped his own heel upon second viewing, but Enzo Le Fee gladly accepted the opportunity to score the game’s own goal.However, it would be wrong to blame this deserved defeat on those two decisions alone. Referee Jarred Gillett and VAR Nick Hopton were weak but not the reason that Chelsea lost.This was actually a two of two strikers. Sunderland had one in the brilliant bully that is Brobbey, whereas Chelsea had nobody after Alonso yet again decided against starting Danny Welbeck.In the three Premier League games played since Joao Pedro’s injury – against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and now Sunderland – Alonso has gone with Morgan Rogers as a false nine once and Pedro Neto twice. Welbeck was on the bench in all of those matches.[embedded content] Sunderland handed Chelsea a brutal reality check as they climbed off the foot of the table The visitors fell victim to two questionable penalty calls at the Stadium of LightWe are not saying the 35-year-old is the answer to all of Alonso’s problems, but he is an actual No9 who scored 13 times in the Premier League for Brighton last season. Neto was hardly going to have a high success rate when wrestling with centre backs for the long balls which were coming from Colwill and Co. It is a question that needs asking, therefore, especially after another loss. Why did Chelsea sign Welbeck if not to play when Joao Pedro is injured?Welbeck came on in the 62nd minute here, but by then, a familiar feeling was washing over Chelsea. They lost 2-1 here at the very end of last season. Malo Gusto scored an own goal, Wesley Fofana was red carded, and Chelsea, managed by Calum McFarlane in the interim, failed to qualify for any form of European football. They smacked of an utterly unserious side then, and resembled it here, too.Chelsea had a week to prepare for this Premier League clash while Sunderland were playing – and losing – to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League. Regis Le Bris’ side had not won in the league since August. Yet they were the sharper of the two teams here.It hardly helped Alonso that Chelsea’s attackers never appeared at it individually.Cole Palmer had a stinker. This was supposed to be an opportunity to show why Thomas Tuchel made a mistake in not naming him in his latest England squad. If anything, he helped make sure those accusations cannot be levelled at Tuchel over this break. Xabi Alonso tinkered with his line-up and it failed to pay off in a second defeat in three games Cole Palmer had a stinker in a woeful response to Thomas Tuchel’s England snubRogers’ performance was best summed up by the time he simply sprinted out of play with the ball to gift Sunderland a goal-kick. He and Palmer resembled no-shows. MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS Sunderland (4-2-3-1): Roefs 6; Hume 7, Mukiele 7, O’Nien 6, Mandava 7; Xhaka 6 (Ahoka 4, 6), Sadiki 7; Meunier 6, Talbi 6 (Rigg 88), Le Fee 6 (Angulo 88); Brobbey 8 (Isidor 67, 6)Subs (not used): Ellborg, Danso, Methalie, Fofana, TutierovScorers: Le Fee (36 pen)Booked: Ahoka, Meunier, Brobbey, O’Nien, AnguloManager: Regis Le Bris 7Chelsea (4-3-3): Penders 6; Palestra 5 (Gusto 62, 5), Fofana 5, Colwill 4 (Estevao 45, 6), Chavarria 5 (Quenda 79); Caicedo 6, Lavia 6, Henderson 6 (Emegha 87); Palmer 4, Neto 5 (Welbeck 62, 5), Rogers 4Subs (not used): Sharman-Lowe, Barco, Anselmino, Nicoll-JazuliBooked: Colwill, Neto, Caicedo, FofanaManager: Xabi Alonso 4Referee: Jarred Gillett 4 <!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/us/sport/football/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
Neto looked like a lost little boy trying to lead Chelsea’s line in the absence of Joao Pedro.The half-time statistics said Chelsea had sent more open-play crosses into Sunderland’s box in the opening 45 minutes than in their entire games v Fulham, Everton, Tottenham, Manchester United, Bournemouth and Brighton. Except, they had no striker for Alonso’s full backs Marco Palestra or Pep Chavarria to try to find. Just 5ft 8in Neto and the odd other box-crasher.Trailing 1-0 at half-time here, Alonso made a singular substitution. It was to introduce Estevao for Colwill, who had been tormented by Brobbey. Le Bris was asked in his post-match press conference if there is another player like his striker in the Premier League. He thought long and hard before answering: ‘What do you think? I don’t think so. His physicality, his intensity, it’s impressive, that’s for sure. The build-up is so important to have a target man.’Alonso chipped in on Brobbey: ‘He is not unstoppable. He is stoppable but only when you defend better than we did.’ On his own attack, he added: ‘We didn’t produce enough to deserve to win.’Sunderland’s tactic of hoofing the ball up to Brobbey worked wonders. He scared the daylights out of Chelsea’s centre backs. When Fofana first arrived at the Stadium of Light, a Chelsea fan shouted at him as he got off the bus. ‘Fofana, please be on the bench,’ he said. Fofana may have been wishing he was a substitute as well whenever he was wrestling with Brobbey.It was the long-ball approach which led to Sunderland winning their penalty. They smashed it towards the top of the pitch and Brobbey bullied Colwill. Sunderland won their spot-kick and, in truth, deserved the lead for the sheer energy they brought to this match.Alonso is ten Premier League games into his Chelsea career. The honeymoon period is over. Sunderland lost their captain Granit Xhaka to an injury after two minutes here. Chelsea had named a line-up featuring three midfielders. But they never showed any signs of control, and for that, Alonso should be looking at himself and his own side rather than the refereeing team.