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Sunderland atoned for drawing their first two League One games by coming from behind to beat Portsmouth this weekend, and the performances of Alim Ozturk and Jordan Willis may just have solved an on-going problem.
On the chalkboard
After 20 minutes of Saturday’s clash against Pompey, the feeling of ‘here we go again’ was surely rumbling through the Stadium of Light, as the visitors took the lead and the hosts started off sluggish and lacking in quality.
It wasn’t long before Willis equalised though, and Chris Magiure added a second shortly before half-time.
A two-goal buffer would have certainly brought fans’ heart rates down, but the Black Cats survived in the end with a 2-1 win, and Willis and Ozturk proved they may be the answer to the riddle Ross has been trying to solve since he arrived last season.
About time
Ross’ side drew 19 of 46 games in his first campaign, and many of those were 1-1 draws. They just simply couldn’t hold on to one-goal leads.
The boss tried all sorts of centre-back combinations, with Ozturk, Glenn Loovens, Jack Baldwin, Jimmy Dunne, Tom Flanagan and even youngsters like Jack Bainbridge all getting some minutes at various points throughout the season.
With no settled partnership though, there was never a real sense of stability and calm in front of Jon McLaughlin, quite the opposite in fact.
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On Saturday however, with a full 45 minutes after the break to play with the score at 2-1, Willis and Ozturk never looked out of control, panicked or under any real sort of pressure, and the fans appreciated it too.
Willis, who grabbed the goal, reads the game brilliantly and possesses excellent pace and ball-playing abilities. Alongside him, Ozturk is fearless, physical and has no qualms booting one into row Z if needs must.
The pair’s abilities complement each other, and after stumbling between various combinations at the back last term, Ross may finally have the settled and balanced partnership he needs to guide his side to success.
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