Max O’Leary was Bristol City’s goalkeeping hero as they claimed a goalless draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
O’Leary made a series of superb first-half saves as Liam Manning’s side claimed their third clean sheet in a row.
Adil Aouchiche and Bradley Dack both hit the crossbar as Sunderland turned in a much-improved display from the Bank Holiday battering at the hands of Blackburn.
However, the Black Cats were unable to find a way past an inspired O’Leary and have now won just one of their last nine matches as their season peters out.
Sunderland were the better side from the outset, displaying a much greater degree of intensity and aggression than they had displayed in their 5-1 home defeat to Blackburn at the start of the week.
Dan Ballard thought he had claimed a ninth-minute opener when he headed goalwards after a corner was nodded back across goal, but O’Leary did superbly to claw the ball away.
Sunderland threatened again three minutes later, only for Aouchiche to stab wide from inside the area after Dan Neil’s blocked shot rebounded invitingly into his path.
Jack Clarke was back in the home side’s starting line-up for the first time in more than a month after recovering from an ankle injury and the winger went close midway through the first half as he fired in a side-footed strike that was parried by O’Leary.
The Bristol City goalkeeper was in inspired form for much of the afternoon, producing a brilliant double-save to ensure the scoresheet remained blank shortly after the half-hour mark.
His first save prevented Jobe Bellingham from firing home from inside the area and he then produced an even better stop to keep out Clarke’s follow-up effort.
Two minutes later and O’Leary was at it again. This time it was Neil who was denied initially, with the Robins keeper parrying the midfielder’s shot, and when Aouchiche nodded the rebound towards goal, O’Leary displayed superb reflexes to touch the ball onto the crossbar.
Bristol City had not threatened at all at that stage, but the visitors finally recorded their first effort at goal in first-half stoppage time.
Anthony Patterson parried Nakhi Wells’ angled shot and Scott Twine’s follow-up effort would have gone in had a backtracking Luke O’Nien not produced a crucial block from just in front of the goal-line.
Patterson was called into action again in the early stages of the second half, saving from Matty James after Haydon Roberts nodded a free-kick back across goal, but with the wind swirling around the Stadium of Light, neither side was especially fluent as they pressed to try to force a breakthrough.
That said, however, Sunderland came within inches of claiming a winner with 17 minutes left. Neil flicked on Trai Hume’s cross, enabling substitute Dack to power in a diving header that cannoned off the underside of the crossbar before rebounding to safety.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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