Lacklustre Cats are Saddled with defeat
SUNDERLAND’S FA Cup adventure is over after they fell at the second hurdle against Walsall.
Liam Kinsella’s strike early in the second half gave the West Midlands outfit a narrow victory in a second round replay at the Stadium of Light, the sides having drawn 1-1 in the initial tie at the Bescot Stadium.
The win means the Saddlers will travel to Championship side Bolton Wanderers in the third round.
Sunderland could not complain at the result this evening, the Black Cats turning in an insipid, lacklustre, display which saw them manage only a single effort on target all game.
Defeat ends Sunderland’s 16-game unbeaten run in all competitions and the only crumb of comfort manager Jack Ross will be able to cling to is his side’s fixture pile-up has not become any worse now their League One game at Charlton Athletic will go ahead on third round weekend as scheduled.
Ross made five changes to the side which started Saturday’s game at Accrington Stanley, which was abandoned due to heavy rain.
Luke O’Nien replaced the injured Adam Matthews at rightback, while Duncan Watmore was brought back into the starting line-up as he continued his comeback from a long-term injury.
Bryan Oviedo, Dylan McGeouch and Jerome Sinclair also came into the side.
Aside from Matthews, the other men to make way were Reece James, Lynden Gooch, Aiden McGeady and Josh Maja.
Lee Cattermole was included on the bench as he returned to the squad after recovering from the foot problem which had sidelined him since the end of October.
Walsall boss Dean Keates made two changes to the side that beat Coventry City at the weekend.
Josh Ginnelly and Kieron Morris came into the side in place of Bishop Auckland-born Andy Cook, who scored in the 1-1 draw at the Bescot Stadium in the original tie 10 days ago, and Jack Fitzwater.
The first half was forgettable, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances.
Jack Baldwin glanced a header well wide from a corner with less than two minutes gone and Watmore saw two shots blocked in quick succession, both from a tight angle.
Morris rippled the side netting in the early stages with a long-range effort and Ginnelly did likewise just before the break.
Walsall fashioned the best chance of the half five minutes before the interval when Morgan Ferrier beat Tom Flanagan for pace down the left and got into the box before rolling the ball square -and only a magnificent save from Jon McLaughlin denied Josh Gordon from pointblank range.
Sunderland were slow out of the blocks at the start of the second period and paid the price eight minutes after the restart.
Kinsella picked the ball up in midfield and strode forward and, with no-one closing him down, he rifled a fierce drive past the helpless McLaughlin from fully 25 yards.
Sunderland huffed and puffed as they tried to get back in the game with Watmore seeing a curling shot deflect off a defender wide of the target, and O’Nien heading wide from a corner.
In the final ten minutes, Oviedo whipped a free-kick across goal and though Chris Maguire got his head to it he was unable to divert the ball goalwards. Too many passes went astray Also gave the ball away too often coming out of defence Defensively sound but didn’t offer much going forward Looked slow and sluggish throughout Did not impress Not his usual energetic self Nothing he tried came off No shortage of effort, but that just isn’t enough Played more than 75 minutes and looked Sunderland’s man most likely