No silver lining for Dembele, Dier and Vorm after Sunderland draw

There was no silver lining for the players as they found out results elsewhere after our goalless draw at Sunderland last night. In fact, it made matters worse.

We huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow down Sunderland’s defensive door at the Stadium of Light. Victor Wanyama headed the best chance just over in the second half, while a clear shooting opportunity for Dele Alli deflected narrowly over as well. The shot count was 13-0 in our favour in the second half but we couldn’t find that elusive goal.

News quickly filtered through to the tunnel area that Chelsea and Liverpool had drawn and Arsenal had lost at home to Watford, but there was certainly no feeling of ‘we’ve got away with that’, far from it.

Michel Vorm, back in goal with Hugo Lloris laid low through illness, summed it up. “We lost two points tonight, definitely and it’s so tight at the top of the league, you really want to win games like this,” he said. “You then come back into the dressing room and see other teams have dropped points that makes it harder.”

Below - Billy Jones gets a grip of Mousa Dembele

Mousa Dembele

What were your thoughts on the game, Mousa?
"It was one of those nights. We started okay in the first half and in the second half we had some small chances, nothing big. Results were good for us so that makes it worse really. It’s an opportunity missed, that’s what we all think. It was a frustrating night and there’s not too much more to say about it.”

Below: Michel Vorm at the Stadium of Light

Michel Vorm

A frustrating night at the office, Michel?
“Yes, we tried until the end but we didn’t creat big, big chances and that’s something we need to improve. Normally in the last few weeks we score a lot of goals, tonight we didn’t concede again but didn’t score. We need to take some positives, we’re happy with the clean sheet but especially when you see other teams dropping points, you have to win, simple.

“There are so many games left to play, every game is tough, especially when it’s so tight at the top of the league and you want to compete with the best teams. You then see they have dropped points. We tried but it wasn’t enough. We’ll go for it again against Middlesbrough.”

Below: Eric Dier

Eric Dier

How did you see it, Eric?
“We controlled the game but we didn’t create enough opportunities. We had a lot of possession and controlled the game but didn’t have that punch at the end of it. Sunderland were very resolute and we found it hard to create enough chances to deserve to win.

“It’s very frustrating. It’s a great chance especially looking at the results elsewhere and these are the kind of games where we need to capitalise, we haven’t and we’re all disappointed.”