Sunderland not very good compared with Newcastle – Gordon

Anthony Gordon says Newcastle United‘s defeat by rivals Sunderland is “not good enough” because the Black Cats are “not very good” compared with the Magpies.

Sunderland completed a league double over their north-east rivals on Sunday with a 2-1 win at St James’ Park, having beaten the Magpies 1-0 in the reverse fixture.

The defeat means the Tyneside club have failed to beat Sunderland in any of their past 11 league meetings – the longest winless run for either club in the fixture’s history.

But Newcastle forward Gordon, who scored his side’s opener before Sunderland’s comeback through goals from Chemsdine Talbi and Brian Brobbey, says Eddie Howe’s side are the better team.

“The frustrating thing is, in my opinion, they’re not a very good team compared to us. We shouldn’t lose to them,” Gordon told Newcastle’s club media.

Sunderland’s victory means they leapfrogged Newcastle in the table, with the Magpies dropping to 12th.

The loss followed an 8-3 aggregate defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League.

“Not good enough really, no excuses,” said Gordon.

“We were good for 45 minutes, which has been the case too often this season – we actually knew going into the game and had been trying to work on it.

The win for Sunderland, managed by Regis le Bris, moved them into 11th place in the Premier League on 43 points – one point and a place above Newcastle – after 31 games.

The Black Cats have won 11, drawn 10 and lost 10 games in the top flight, while the Magpies have won 12, drawn six and been beaten 13 times.

Newcastle have scored 44 goals and let in 45 compared to their rivals scoring 32 and letting in 36, while the Tyneside club have, according to Opta, an xG (expected goals) score of 46.7 ahead of Sunderland’s 30.3.

The St James’ Park side have had more shots – 409 to Sunderland’s 306 – but the shot conversion rate is similar, with Newcastle’s at 10.8% and 10.5% for the Black Cats.

Sunderland have kept nine clean sheets – one more than Newcastle – while Howe’s side have a 52.9% average when it comes to possession while it is 43.6% for the Wearsiders.