Mixed emotions sum up Cats’ recent form
IT was one of those glass halffull/glass half-empty days for Sunderland.
A day when injury-hit Sunderland produced their best display for a while and earned a draw against an Oxford side pushing hard for the play-offs.
But it was also a day when the Black Cats missed out on the chance to capitalise on a game in hand against a team suffering from the after-effects of a Covid outbreak when a win would have seen them go joint-top.
Lee Johnson’s press conference was similarly balanced, with praise for his players – particularly given the fact that injuries meant there was no option but to force square pegs into round holes – tinged with regret that Sunderland did not make the most of the opportunities they created in the second half to secure the win they deserved.
And that kind of ‘one the one hand, but on the other’ theme also applies more broadly.
Are Sunderland on a fourgame unbeaten run that has delivered the two points-pergame return seen as the benchmark for automatic promotion in this league?
Or have they collected only eight points out of a possible 21 having won only two of their last seven league games?
Both are true. Where you place the greater emphasis is a matter of personal choice.
Unsurprisingly, Johnson takes the more optimistic line. But judging from the – albeit muted – chorus of boos at full-time at the Stadium of Light, a fair number of fans remain focused on the downturn in form over seven games, rather h than h the h improvement over the last four.
It did not help that Johnson cleary reacted to something said by a supporter at full-time.
It was no big deal, though. If whatever was said was enough to make Johnson lose his cool, it is unlikely that the head coach’s half-hearted hand gesture will have caused the instigator any lasting emotional damage.
In any case, the boos at fulltime were born of frustration at Sunderland’s failure to turn a decent performance into a win rather than a criticism of the display itself.
Sunderland Sd l d hd had made d the h perfect start when Alex Pritchard’s pass set wing-back Leon Dajaku away for the opening goal inside the first 10 minutes.
And even though Oxford came back strongly, Matty Taylor’s equaliser shortly before half-time could – and should – have been prevented, with Lynden Gooch going down far too easily under pressure from Nathan Holland, leaving him to appeal in vain for a free-kick as Holland provided the assist.
But in the second half, Johnson switched from a back five to a back four and Oxford struggled to adapt, with boss Karl Robinson admitting his team played into Sunderland’s hands.
Sunderland dominated for v virtually the entire second period, and only the woodwork prevented first Ross Stewart and th then Nathan Broadhead restorin ing their lead.
That second goal did not c come, though, and that was where the frustration came from.
Instead of joining top three Rotherham, Wigan, and Wycombe on 38 points, Sunderland stay fifth in the table and are two points behind that group.
They still have a game in hand of Wycombe, but have now played one more than secondplaced Wigan, while they have played the same number of games as Rotherham.
This will be viewed as an opportunity missed, but Sunderland remain well-placed with the season not even yet at its halfway stage.