Nordi Mukiele struck first for Sunderland before an own goal settled the result.
Pereira said afterwards: "For my point of view, a poor first half from both teams. To talk about the first half, I need to talk about throw ins, free-kicks, and the time that we wasted. I didn’t see any game. The game was very poor in my opinion.
"Second half, 30 minutes, we changed completely the way to played, we played in the way that we work every day, doing the movements, creating chances, playing with possession, keeping the ball, not allowing them to play in our defensive midfield, because they could create problems with the throw ins and free-kicks, this is part of the game.
“30 minutes with quality, three or four chance to score the goal, but we missed the chances. This is our problem, because in the Premier League we cannot miss these kinds of chances. The last 15 minutes we stopped playing, we started to play long balls for the strikers. It means that the game was again a poor game, in my opinion, and they scored the second goal.”
The Portuguese also remarked: “I see a team mentally connected with good spirits, with character, trying their best to change the situation. In football sometimes we have a moment – one shot, one goal, two shots, two goals. We had two chance to score the second goal against Brighton, and we didn't, and after we concede the goal.
“Today was very important for us, but we need to improve the way that we are attacking the box, the way that we are crossing, the way that we are assisting in the box, and when we assist well, we need to score.”
He added, “I understand the supporters are worried, they are angry. I understand, but I must look at the effort of the team, the players. They are our players, they are our team, and this is a moment to help them. This is a moment to support, this is a moment to have faith and believe in the team, to believe in the players and to support them.”