Jack Clarke's £12million Newcastle lesson and Jobe Bellingham's thankless Sunderland task in FA Cup defeat

Both head coach Michael Beale and captain Luke O'Nien called for Sunderland to learn from their 3-0 defeat against Newcastle - admitting there was a gap in quality between the two sides.

In truth, it should have been expected given Newcastle's starting XI cost in excess of £250million, while Sunderland's side was assembled for less than £10million. Still, the manner of losing a first Wear-Tyne derby for nearly eight years, in front of a highly-charged Stadium of Light crowd, left its sting on Wearside.

From the start Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier, a £12million signing from Atletico Madrid in 2022, was allowed too much space to get forward from right-back, with Sunderland winger Jack Clarke often getting caught high up the pitch and leaving full-back Aji Alese exposed while also trying to manage Miguel Almiron.

Trippier recorded more touches than any other player on the pitch at the Stadium of Light (107, according to Whoscored.com), with many coming in the Sunderland half, as the England international showed his quality with dangerous crosses into the box.

Another player who saw plenty of the ball was Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (106 touches), with 18-year-old Jobe Bellingham given the thankless task of trying to stop the Brazilian international, who was able to dictate the game as the visitors dominated possession (64 per cent).

When Sunderland did have the ball it was often in their own half trying to play out from the back, with Pierre Ekwah conceding possession on the edge of his own box for the visitors' second goal, with Almiron and goalscorer Alexander Isak cutting off his passing options. It was an intensity level which the Black Cats simply haven't been used to in the Championship, coming up against a team which was playing Champions League football earlier this season.

Sunderland did create a few openings in the second half as Alex Pritchard found pockets of space and drew a decent save from goalkeeper Martin Dubravka. Still, it was ultimately a comfortable afternoon for Newcastle centre-backs Sven Botman and Fabian Schar, against Sunderland striker Nazariy Rusyn, who was a willing runner but struggled to hold the ball up.

The reluctance to take a more direct approach, as has been the case in the Championship, fundamentally played into Newcastle's hands, with Sunderland struggling to escape out of their own half for large spells. On the touchline, Black Cats boss Michael Beale didn't feel he had sufficient options on an inexperience bench to change the game, waiting until the 84th minute to make his first change as Abdoullah Ba replaced Rusyn.

The Sunderland boss will know his side won't come up against this quality of opposition every week in the Championship. Still there are lessons to be learnt ahead of their next 20 league games, with the Black Cats now aiming to finish in the play-offs for a second successive season.