Sunderland continued their disappointing start to the 2026/27 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
The Black Cats have now lost four of their opening six matches in the division and each of their last three matches, conceding nine goals in those three games.
Goals from Maxim De Cuyper and Jaouen Hadjam secured all three points for the away side, who went down to ten men at 1-0 when Pascal Struijk was sent off for holding onto Wilson Isidor after a through ball.
Sunderland’s attacking play left far too much to be desired throughout the afternoon on Wearside, and one of the players who struggled was Nilson Angulo.
How Nilson Angulo performed against Brighton
The Ecuador international was selected to start on the left side of the attack by Regis Le Bris and he failed to justify his inclusion in the starting line-up.
Angulo played the first 73 minutes of the game before being withdrawn by the French boss, who must have been left frustrated by the winger’s sloppy play with the ball at his feet.
The 23-year-old attacker is still a young player who is learning and developing in the Premier League, so he cannot be expected to be perfect every game, but the Black Cats should still demand more from the forward.
|
Vs Brighton |
Nilson Angulo |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
73 |
|
Pass accuracy |
75% |
|
Shots |
0 |
|
Key passes |
0 |
|
Dribbles completed |
1/7 |
|
Touches |
26 |
|
Possession lost |
13x |
|
Duels won |
3/13 |
He came off the pitch without registering a single shot or key pass in 73 minutes of action in a home game against a team Sunderland should expect to, at least, compete against.
Where Angulo needs to improve the most
The right-footed attacker needs to improve the physical side of his game because his lack of consistency in his duels and in athletic battles against opposition players is letting him down.
Angulo has lost 60% of his duels in the Premier League and only completed 44% of his attempted dribbles across the first six games of the season, failing in six of his seven attempted dribbles against Brighton.
The winger needs more time to adjust to the physicality and intensity of the league so that defenders do not find it as easy to get the better of him in duels, whether that is in general play or when he attempts to dribble past them.
If he can improve that aspect of his game, the attacking qualities that he possesses could shine through and allow him to become a star for the Black Cats moving forward.
Worse than Angulo: Sunderland star must be dropped
As disappointing as Angulo was with his performance against the Seagulls on Saturday, the Ecuadorian wide man was not the worst performer on the pitch for Le Bris.
Brian Brobbey sustaining an injury on international duty with the Netherlands meant that Wilson Isidor was given the nod to lead the line as the sole number nine for the Black Cats.
Unfortunately, the Haiti international was even worse than Angulo and, arguably, the worst player on the pitch between the two teams, as he struggled badly up front.
|
Vs Brighton |
Wilson Isidor |
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
90 |
|
Touches |
21 |
|
Possession lost |
12 |
|
Shots |
2 |
|
Shots on target |
0 |
|
Passes completed |
4/8 |
|
Duels won |
3/11 |
|
Defensive contributions |
0 |
Angulo completed 75% of his attempted passes and won two of his two attempted tackles on the wing, but Isidor only completed 50% of his passes and did not make any defensive contributions in 90 minutes on the pitch.
Despite playing 17 more minutes than the Ecuador international, the striker failed to hit the target with any of his shots or create any chances for his teammates, and he lost the ball just more than every two touches on average.
It was Isidor who was fouled for Brighton’s red card, when Struijk blocked his run, but it was questionable as to whether or not the forward would have even made it to the pass before Bart Verbruggen.
The 26-year-old striker has now gone six matches without a goal in all competitions since his strike against Fulham in the club’s only win of the season so far in the Premier League.
Isidor’s all-round performance against Brighton left far too much to be desired, as he struggled on and off the ball, and he should be dropped for the Europa League clash with Torreense on Thursday night.
