Cats who got creamed in cups focus on league
HEAT IS ON FOR WEARSIDE DOUBLE HEADER
AND then there was one. Three weeks ago Sunderland were fighting on four fronts, now they have been knocked out of all three cup competitions in the space of 22 days – the Carabao Cup at Oxford United, the EFL Trophy at Scunthorpe United, and on Tuesday night they exited the FA Cup at Gillingham.
Promotion was always the priority for Sunderland; now it is the only show in town. If Sunderland’s league form has been mixed since Phil Parkinson took over – two wins and two draws – results in the cups have been dire. There was a draw followed by a penalty shootout defeat at Oxford, Trophy defeats at the hands of Leicester City’s U21s and League Two Scunthorpe, a draw against Gillingham in the first round of the FA Cup followed by defeat in the replay.
To call the replay defeat at the Priestfield Stadium tame or tepid would not do justice to the spectacle. These sides could not manage a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes. No one wanted an extra
half-hour of this, yet that was the penance for the 3,500 – including 330 hardy Cats fans – who turned out.
Finally, after 105 minutes, we saw a shot on target. It came from Brandon Hanlan, it beat Lee Burge, it settled the tie, and it at least meant we were spared a penalty shootout.
Gillingham could celebrate progress to the second round and a home tie against Doncaster Rovers, while Sunderland were left to lick their wounds after their earliest FA Cup exit since 1924, when teams in the top two divisions still entered at the first round stage.
Sunderland could at least point to the fact that they were severely depleted, with injuries and international call-ups depriving them of 10 first-team players, while Gillingham were virtually at full-strength.
And defensively, Sunderland’s threeat-the-back system worked well with young centre-back Brandon Taylor outstanding alongside a barely-fit Alim Ozturk and stand-in centre-half Laurens De Bock .
But once again, it was Sunderland’s failings at the other end of the pitch that stood out a mile.
Will Grigg sent one shot narrowly wide, but other than that he was starved of anything resembling service, and was left to chase lost causes.
Duncan Watmore, playing off Grigg, was unable to offer any support, because there was nothing to support.
And attacking midfielder Chris Maguire lacked any creative spark. It was painful to watch.
In any case, the cups are now done and dusted.
The real test starts here, and the back-to-back home games against Coventry City on Saturday and Burton Albion on Tuesday feel like must-win games, and Parkinson will be helped by the expected returns of players such as Jordan Willis, Joel Lynch, George Dobson and possibly Charlie Wyke.
Sunderland’s blank weekend meant they slipped to ninth in the table, though they have games in hand on most of their rivals, and if they start to string together league wins and climb towards the play-offs and then the automatic promotion spots, their cup defeats will soon fade from memory.
But if their cup form spills over into their league campaign and they fall further off the pace, this season will rapidly lurch into crisis territory.
And no one wants that.