Sunderland were held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds United as difficult conditions made for an underwhelming contest at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
Sunderland 0-0 Leeds United: Le Bris' men still bottom after bore draw
Leeds United drew away from home for the ninth time this calendar year, as they played out a low-key 0-0 draw at Sunderland.
Storm Boelo has battered much of the United Kingdom over the past few days, and neither team could really gain a foothold as the winds made it difficult to play liquid football.
Brian Brobbey had Sunderland's best efforts in the first half, while Sean Longstaff twice went close late on for Leeds, but a goalless draw was a pretty fair reflection of the game.
Netherlands striker Brobbey, playing a league game for the first time in a month due to a hamstring injury sustained on international duty, saw a deflected attempt well saved by James Trafford low to his right in the seventh minute.
Nordi Mukiele dragged one wide of the left-hand post from 30 yards, and Brobbey stole ahead of Jaka Bijol before prodding at Trafford after Harry Wilson had the ball pinched.
Leeds did not register an effort on target until Tarik Muharemovic tamely headed at Robin Roefs from Wilson's corner in the 56th minute.
Trafford then did well to get down low to Nilson Angulo's curling shot, and also parried away the Sunderland winger's deflected strike from the edge of the box.
Omar Alderete saw his blushes spared by the offside flag when he woefully side-footed Granit Xhaka's clipped free-kick wide, while Roefs did well to keep out Ao Tanaka's shot on the spin at the other end.
Former Newcastle United midfielder Longstaff came off the bench to test Roefs from 20 yards, then had another goal-bound effort blocked by his own team-mate Lukas Nmecha deep into injury time.
Leeds draw on the road again, as Sunderland stay bottom
The conditions really made for a difficult outing for both of these teams, which was reflected in an expected goals (xG) total of 0.91 for Sunderland to Leeds' 0.57.
There were four shots on target apiece, but truthfully nothing that you would have expected to yield a goal.
For Leeds, it represents a ninth away league draw in 2026, the most of any Premier League side and their most in a calendar year since 1995 (also nine).
Daniel Farke's side are proving tough to beat, but games involving Leeds this season have seen the joint-fewest goals struck in the opening 20 minutes (one for, zero against).
Regis Le Bris' Sunderland are still bottom of the table despite ending a four-match losing streak in the league. They did, though, avoid racking up their longest losing streak in the competition since 2015 (five), last having a longer losing run in December 2015 (five).
And there was a nice milestone for Chris Rigg, who made his 100th appearance for Sunderland (22nd in the Premier League), reaching a century of games for the club at the age of just 19 years and 129 days.
