Sunderland's dominance fails to deliver the opening day win they needed

Chris Maguire's equaliser earned Sunderland a deserved point, but the Black Cats should have earned all three against unambitious Bristol Rovers

So the new season picked up almost where last left off for Sunderland six months earlier - with an underwhelming result against a limited Bristol Rovers side.

But that was where the similarities ended.

The venue was different, the outcome was different - a draw this weekend, as opposed to a defeat back in March - and the performance was different.

And whereas the 2-0 defeat at the Memorial Stadium saw Sunderland slip out of the play-off places just days before the season ground to a halt and ultimately put the kibosh on any chance they had of promotion, this draw came on the opening day of the season with 45 games (hopefully) to make amends.

There was an understandable sense of disappointment at the missed opportunity to make a statement of intent with a victory on the opening day, but only the most implacable pessimist could bemoan a crisis after drawing the first game of the season.

Because despite a rocky start which saw Sunderland start sloppily and concede from a penalty inside three minutes, the vast majority of this game was one-way traffic.

Rovers were gifted the lead when Lee Burge's clumsy challenge on Jayden Mitchell-Lawson allowed Luke Leahy to convert from the spot, but their lack of ambition throughout the following 87 minutes was remarkable, as were their timewasting ploys.

Whether they could have got away with it had their fans been able to make the journey North is open to question.

Because Leahy's penalty after three minutes was their second and final effort on target of the match. The best they could muster in the remainder of the match was a single shot off target 15 minutes from full time.

It was no surprise that the Black Cats ended the game with 72 percent possession, 19 attempts to the visitors' three, eight shots on target to the visitors' two, and a corner count of 11 to three in Sunderland's favour.

Sunderland's problem was that they could not find a finish - partly due to their own failings, and partly due to the goalkeeping of Anssi Jaakkola.

Will Grigg and Aiden O'Brien had shots blocked just in front of the line, Denver Hume saw a shot turned over the bar, a Chris Maguire was pushed round the post, George Dobson headed at the keeper from six yards when he should have scored, and there were also multiple occasions when the Black Cats' final ball let them down.

Eventually, Maguire lashed home one of his trademark strikes from the edge of the box to level things up seven minutes from time.

And then Rovers were clinging on for dear life, with Max Power seeing a thunderbolt from 25 yards brilliantly turned onto the post by Jaakkola, and later Power had a shot cleared off the line by Mark Little.

When the board went up to indicate eight minutes of added time, it looked like Rovers' timewasting antics would come back to bite them.

They held out though, and in the last minute of injury-time Dobson's frustrations got the better of him and he was shown a straight red card for a needless lunge on Mitchell-Lawson.

Dobson got a piece of the ball and the card could have been either colour, but the fact the decision went against him capped a wretched afternoon for the midfielder.

Unless Sunderland appeal, Dobson will sit out the next three games and Josh Scowen - who could count himself unfortunate not to have been in the starting XI in any case - looks favourite to take his place.

Dobson's dismissal came so late in the game that it had no bearing, but if Bailey Wright had been booked for a second time for a foul on Brandon Hanlan just after half-time it could have shifted the balance with Sunderland chasing the game at that stage.

Referee Anthony Backhouse had the yellow card in his hand but decided against it, much to Wright's relief.

There was a lot for Phil Parkinson to chew over ahead of next weekend's trip to Oxford United.

Positives in terms of the chances created and the way Sunderland controlled the game, along with the negatives of their terrible start and the struggle to translate their dominance into goals.

Put aside the opening 10 minutes when Sunderland's defence were shaky, and the final 60 seconds when Dobson went rogue, there were some encouraging signs on Saturday.

But there is still plenty of room for improvement, and Sunderland need to rack up some early wins to avoid having to play catch-up.