Manager Tony Mowbray felt Sunderland ‘dominated’ their 1-1 draw with Millwall despite relying on a late Jack Clarke penalty to rescue a point at The Den.
Kevin Nisbet gave Millwall a deserved lead after a superb delivery from Arsenal loanee Brooke Norton-Cuffy.
However, Clarke scored his 10th goal of the season with 12 minutes left to rescue a point for
the Black Cats, though Millwall’s Tom Bradshaw did have a goal disallowed for offside in the closing stages.
The result means Joe Edwards is still without a win at The Den since taking charge of The Lions while Sunderland are winless in three.
Mowbray said: “I thought we dominated the game, probably from start to finish apart from the last 10 minutes after we scored.
“You would expect us to be like The Alamo and go and get the winner but it was the other way really.
“We don’t look like we are going to score a goal and yet we can control the game. I think they had isolated breakaways, it is what they can do and it is ok.
“I think we dominated for long spells without looking like we were going to score.
“We don’t look like we are going to score a goal, why is that?
“I think it is because we have young attacking players, inexperienced attacking players who are not really ready to play for our team.
“And yet we have to play them and we are playing them and we are not suffering the results but we are trying to develop them and get them up to speed to be able to be a striker in the Championship.”
Jobe Bellingham, younger brother of Real Madrid star Jude, was an unused substitute.
Mowbray admitted he has a duty of care and does not want to overplay the 18-year-old.
The draw leaves Sunderland in ninth while Millwall are in 19th.
Edwards felt his side were always in the game despite enjoying far less possession.
He said: “I thought Sunderland started the game well and then we grew and after we got the first goal I felt there was a noticeable change in the team.
“We looked confident, the fans supported us well and it felt like we were building some nice momentum, although they pretty much dominated possession throughout the game.
“We always posed a threat and we looked confident in our defending.
“The way they use width and the wide players in their team, it causes everyone problems but I felt we dealt with it well.
“When you lead a game for so long and you don’t win it feels disappointing but I think you have to respect that they did have a lot of control of the game.
“In the second half, they mounted a lot of pressure as an away team so for me it is just areas where we can improve. I thought we did so well without the ball.
“We posed a threat on the break and in transition but I think we have just got to keep bridging that gap so we don’t have to play at our max like that just to take a point at home.”
Leverkusen 'not interested' in unbeaten season before Europa League defeat, says Xhaka
Bayer Leverkusen were "not interested" in maintaining their unbeaten record, according to Granit Xhaka, who acknowledged his frustrations after Wednesday's Europa League final disappointment.
Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga champions had not suffered defeat since the final game of last season against Bochum, but succumbed to their next loss in the decisive moment against Atalanta in Dublin.
Ademola Lookman stole the headlines with a remarkable hat-trick, powering Gian Piero Gasperini's team to their first title in 61 years, when Atalanta won the Coppa Italia.
A 3-0 defeat ensured Leverkusen will have to settle for, at most, a domestic double as they look to bounce back on Saturday in the DFB-Pokal final.
Yet Xhaka insisted Alonso's side never had the undefeated streak in their minds as soon as kick-off arrived at the Aviva Stadium.
"Honestly, we're not interested in the unbeaten record," the former Arsenal midfielder said to RTL. "We didn't care about that from the start.
"It's about the game and unfortunately we lost a final today. That's football.
"We said yesterday that it would be a difficult game. Compliments to Atalanta."
Leverkusen's unbeaten streak spanned nine months and 51 games this season, starting their 2023-24 campaign with a first-round DFB-Pokal thrashing of lowly Teutonia Ottensen in mid-August.
Alonso's impressive men triumphed in 42 of those matches during their historic unbeaten run across all competitions, drawing the other nine as Leverkusen coasted to their first Bundesliga title in history.
Scoring 143 goals and conceding just 39 across that dominant period, not many would have expected Gasperini's side to shutout Leverkusen and beat goalkeeper Matej Kovar three times in the process.
Leverkusen are the first league-title winners to lose the UEFA Cup/Europa League final in the same season since Benfica in 2013-14, and the first German side to do since Borussia Dortmund in 2001-02.
In single-game only finals, this was also the biggest margin of defeat for a German team since Eintracht Frankfurt lost 7-3 to Real Madrid in the 1960 European Cup, perhaps explaining Xhaka's annoyance.
Europa League misery will not taint Alonso's Leverkusen pride
Xabi Alonso will not allow Bayer Leverkusen's Europa League final defeat against Atalanta to alter his pride, after their historic 51-game unbeaten run ended on Wednesday.
The Bundesliga champions were eyeing an unlikely treble, with the DFB-Pokal final to come this weekend, but those plans came crashing down in a 3-0 loss to Atalanta.
Ademola Lookman single-handedly powered Gian Piero Gasperini's side to their first title in 61 years, producing an individual performance for the ages with a decisive hat-trick.
European heartbreak marked Leverkusen's first loss this season, with their last defeat coming to Bochum on the last day of the 2022-23 Bundesliga campaign, as Alonso's side were finally stopped.
Yet the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder says nothing can take away from Leverkusen's memorable campaign.
"For me the result today does not change one bit how I feel about my players or what we have been doing," the Leverkusen head coach told TNT Sports.
"It hurts because we wanted to lift the trophy but you can't have everything. We lifted the Bundesliga and we have the chance to lift the DFB-Pokal on Saturday."
Leverkusen are the first team to win the league title but lose the UEFA Cup/Europa League final in the same term since Benfica in 2013-14, and the first German side to do since Borussia Dortmund in 2001-02.
"This season and achievements have surpassed all expectations," Alonso continued.
"I was hoping and getting ready to maybe do something great but this has been so much more.
"To achieve what we have for a club like Leverkusen is great. To be in the last week of the season having lifted the Bundesliga and then going for the Pokal too means a lot.
"First year as a coach, it is going quite well!"
A monumental occasion at the Aviva Stadium marked Atalanta's first-ever major European trophy as they became the 10th different Italian side to do so, second only to teams from England (13).
Alonso was unsurprised by the excellence of Gasperini and his Atalanta side, however.
"It is not something they have just done this year, they have been doing it for many years," the Spaniard said, acknowledging the work of 66-year-old Gasperini.
"They are a special team. Normally we get in better positions ourselves but today we could not.
"We were not able to come back and get that back. It was not meant to be.
"The unbeaten run has come to an end but congratulations to Atalanta, they deserve it, so nothing more to say."
'We wrote history' – Gasperini and Lookman cherish Atalanta's Europa League glory
Gian Piero Gasperini and Ademola Lookman both cherished creating Atalanta history after ending Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten run and securing Europa League glory.
Lookman produced a performance worthy of the most important European moment in Atalanta's history, securing the club's first-ever major trophy on the continent after his dazzling hat-trick.
The Nigeria winger is just the sixth player to manage a treble in a major UEFA final and the first since Jupp Heynckes’ for Borussia Mönchengladbach against Twente in 1975.
Lookman will be the toast of Bergamo when Gasperini's side head home, boasting their first trophy in 61 years – after the Coppa Italia – following a 3-0 triumph to end Leverkusen's 51-game unbeaten run.
"One of the best nights of my life," the hat-trick hero told TNT Sports in Dublin.
"Amazing performance from the team, we did it, we did it, we did it! I haven't got much else to say, but fantastic."
Lookman is also just the second player to score a treble for an Italian side in the final of a major European competition, after Pierino Prati for Milan against Ajax in the 1969 European Cup
Preparing to leave the Aviva Stadium with the Europa League trophy in hand, Lookman could not wait to celebrate a seismic moment in the club's history.
"We've got to celebrate, we made history tonight," he added.
Gasperini, aged 66 years and 117 days on Wednesday, is the oldest coach to win his debut major European final, and the second Italian coach to win the Europa League after Maurizio Sarri in 2019.
The veteran Atalanta mastermind echoed Lookman's sentiment, after securing just a second trophy in the Italian club's history.
"I think we wrote history, also for the way we won it," said Gasperini, speaking to UEFA's official media channels.
"It was just extraordinary, we defeated Liverpool, Sporting who won the championship. When we faced Liverpool they were first in the Premier League... And now the German champions.
"Incredible. The boys were extraordinary, a memorable performance."
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