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James Hunter

Sunderland's win against Portsmouth was a victory for pragmatism over philosophy

Lee Johnson loves to talk football philosophy.

How he wants his team to play, how players fit into his system, the qualities they bring.

When Sunderland play his way, they can be a joy to watch.

READ MORE: Sunderland's Lee Johnson sets target date for new signing Patrick Roberts' first involvement

But not every game can be a feast of free-flowing football with opponents left chasing shadows while Sunderland create chances galore.

Alongside the ideology there must be a place for pragmatism, too.

And Sunderland's victory over Portsmouth was a triumph for the latter over the former.

The arrival from Stoke City in midweek of January signing Danny Batth, a tough, uncompromising, no-nonsense, centre-back has added some physical presence at the heart of defence.

It was a sign that Johnson is prepared to, if not compromise his principles, at least show some flexibility.

Johnson admitted as much afterwards, saying: "You can see that the pitch is not conducive to playing tiki-taka football, and it demonstrates the reasoning behind bringing in the likes of Danny Batth and I thought we were extremely solid.

"We need to win all types of games and that is something I recognised early on in the season but I don't think we addressed it early enough."

You only need look back to the beginning of October and the reverse fixture, when Sunderland tried to play football on a Fratton Park pitch where heavy rain made it look like the the tide had come in, for a reminder of what can happen if you fail to adapt: they lost 4-0.

Sunderland showed the other side of their game at the Stadium of Light.

It was one of those days where they had to dig in, stand firm when on the back foot, keep a clean sheet, and ruthlessly take advantage of any mistakes.

They toughed it out in the opening half-hour when Portsmouth were in the ascendancy, although they were fortunate that Pompey looked lightweight up front and barely tested Thorben Hoffmann even when sloppy defending put them in trouble.

Instead they gradually took control of the game, pressed Pompey's defenders in the final third, and got their reward when Leon Dajaku forced Hayden Carter into a mistake, and Ross Stewart set up Elliot Embleton for what turned out to be the winning goal five minutes before half-time.

In the second half, Sunderland continued to dominate but without adding to their lead as they were caught between two stools, not willing to push too hard for a second goal in case it cost them an equaliser.

The single goal was enough though, as Sunderland claimed their first clean sheet and first victory of 2022 to move back into the automatic promotion places, and end their three-game winless streak since they went into the New Year at the top of the table.

Batth's performance suggested that he can become a key player in the second half of the season, adding not just height and strength but also the experience and know-how of a three-time promotion winner.

Fellow January signing Patrick Roberts arrived from Manchester City on the eve of the game and, while he did not feature at the weekend, his ability should make him one of the stand-out talents in League One.

And at least one more signing is expected, with Sunderland still looking for another striker to support, and act as cover for, 18-goal leading scorer Stewart, and Johnson confirmed after the game that the club is 'working very hard' to bring ex-England man Jermain Defoe back to the club.

Part of Johnson's philosophy is to end each transfer window stronger than the club went into it.

At this stage, they look on course to achieve that.

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