Sunderland beaten at home by Dinamo Zagreb

Sunderland were beaten for the first time in the Europa League this season as Dinamo Zagreb outplayed their Premier League opponents on Wearside.

The Black Cats were poor in the first half, and even a more spirited second period could not prevent them from losing by two goals.

Strikes from Zagreb’s forwards Luke Stojković and Dion Drena Beljo in the opening 45 minutes were enough to claim all three points.

On the contrary, Sunderland’s first half display was met with boos. They allowed a Dinamo Zagreb side, who have hardly set the world alight in the Europa League so far, to dominate proceedings.

Whilst Sunderland struggled for rhythm, Zagreb looked threatening, and eventually took the lead though Stojković.

Thomas Meunier soon became central to the match, as he cleared another Zagreb shot off the line, before hitting the post with a cross-come-shot.

However, that was about as good as it got for Sunderland in the first period. Zagreb grabbed their second thanks to a deft chip from Dion Drena Beljo, following a great team move.

Four changes came at the break for the hosts, and almost the perfect restart as Wilson Isidor headed home. VAR cut short the celebrations though, with Isidor offside.

The loss undoubtedly places more pressure on Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris ahead of the weekend’s game against Chelsea.