The second consecutive match, the third and last of the preseason stage on British soil and once again against a team from the Premiership. The good performance in the second half against Stoke City in which Betis had many scoring opportunities was still in our minds, but we were also aware that Betis needed to improve certain aspects of their game. In this match against Sunderland, the Betis team was much more on form in the first half which was more comparable with the second half in yesterday's match. Perquis and Xavi Torres gave more balance to the Heliopolitan team but the incursions on their rival's area were not fluid. Rubén constantly hung back trying to create some danger, which he managed to do on two occasions. In the first one, he opened up the whole of the left wing for Álex Martínez with a beautiful pass through to him which managed to break the pressure being put on them. The apprentices centre was not as accurate as it could have been and the piece of play dwindled. In his second pass, after playing well in the midfield, Rennella's good mobility did not help him to connect with the pass the player from the Canary Islands put through to him. 

Neither did the English team harry Adán's goal and the keeper had little to do. Control of the first 20 minutes of the match was for the green-and-whites but that changed in the second half of the first half when Bridcutt & Co. took possession of the ball. The goalless draw was a just result for both teams after a dense first half in which the teams showed mutual respect. 

Velázquez made some changes on the bench in the second half but this time the variations were not significant. Matilla and Chuli came for Pacheco and Cedrick. There was some change in the formation as Rennella moved to the right wing so that Matilla could take on the role as attacking midfielder releasing Perquis-Xavi duo. These changes did not make that much difference to the run of play as both teams continued playing on the same level as in the first half. Neither team encroached on their rivals area and a broad central passageway on the pitch was where all the action was taking place. The only danger Betis created in the area was with a centre by Chuli and a great header by Rubén. The match started to follow a different course in which isolated errors could have tipped the balance either way, misfortune was to strike the visiting team. Two indecisive moments in the Betis defence lead to, first Fletcher, in the 34th minute, followed by Wicckham, in the 37th minute, scoring two goals for Sunderland. That put too much ground between the two teams and Real Betis lost a match in which they had not suffered. 

Sunderland: Mannone; Vergini, O’Shea (Wes Brown, m. 46), Roberge, Van Aanholt; Johnson (Fletcher, m. 66), Bridcutt, Rodwell, Giaccherini (Jordi Gómez, m. 40); Wickham and Larsson.

Real Betis: Adán (Dani Giménez, m. 46); Molinero, Bruno, Jordi, Álex Martínez; Xavi Torres, Perquis; Cedrick (Matilla, m. 46), Rubén Castro, Pacheco (Chuli, m. 46); and Rennella (Jorge Molina, m. 72).

Goal: 1-0, m. 79: Fletcher. 2-0, m. 81: Wickham.