Luckless Sunderland sent to the bottom
Chris Coleman, the Sunderland manager, bemoaned Bolton’s dubious winner last night as his side plunged into deeper trouble at the foot of the Championship.
Sunderland showed all the intent, energy and commitment required when at the wrong end of the table yet they missed the priceless commodity that is luck as Zach Clough’s contentious first-half finish earned Bolton a bruising victory at the Macron Stadium.
The forward, on loan from Nottingham Forest, appeared to nudge a first-half cross past Lee Camp with his arm and Coleman, whose side went bottom of the Championship as a result of this defeat, has now overseen just four wins from his 17 games in charge.
“I’ve looked at it and looked at it and looked at it, there is a handball and the goal is given so you can’t blame us for being frustrated about that,” he said of referee David Coote’s decision.
“The referee got it drastically wrong on the free-kick and the resulting free-kick into the box. You saw the reaction from our guys, it was a blatant handball. It was a bizarre decision for me.
“It was a much better and improved performance tonight. But it’s another one gone. I think there’s four teams now and we have to keep that as long as we can, keep it nice and tight. I certainly keep believing in the players. It’s all or nothing for us.”
The continuing absence of Ovie Ejaria did not help Sunderland’s cause against an equally threadbare and out-of-form Bolton side and fears that this would be dire came true until Clough’s intervention for Bolton after 17 minutes.
A Felipe Morais free-kick was allowed to bounce in the Sunderland area and Clough claimed the last touch as Camp failed miserably to stop the weak effort. The goalkeeper immediately claimed handball but good fortune is thin on the ground for Sunderland.
The visitors improved in the remainder of the half but could not threaten Bolton consistently.
Sunderland were again the brighter side after the interval but, again, Ashley Fletcher could not summon enough class to significantly hurt Bolton.
Their best opportunity came when David Wheater pulled down Joel Asoro on the edge of the area but the resulting free-kick from Aiden Mcgeady was lacklustre, to say the least. Mcgeady’s presence from the bench, though, undoubtedly gave Sunderland more forward momentum but Bolton played in the same manner as the visitors on a night where muscle rather than magic was more important.
Adam Le Fondre drew one fine, low save from Camp and Jem Karacan rattled the crossbar for the home side before Callum Mcmanaman’s last-ditch effort was wonderfully denied by former Sunderland goalkeeper Ben Alnwick to underline that it would not be the Wearside team’s evening. “I haven’t seen the goal yet so I can’t comment,” Bolton manager Phil Parkinson said. “If we’ve had a bit of fortune then the people who follow Bolton a lot will say it’s long overdue.”
Bolton Wanderers (3-4-2-1) Alnwick; Dervite, Wheater, Beevers; Morais, Henry, Karacan (Burke 90), Taylor; Ameobi, Clough (Osede 60); Wilbraham (Le Fondre 59). Subs Howard (g), Flanagan, Robinson, Walker. Booked Wheater, Henry, Morais, Ameobi.
Sunderland (3-5-2) Camp; Kone, O’shea, Clarke-salter (Maja 73); Jones (Mcgeady 63), Cattermole, Mcnair, Honeyman, Oviedo; Asoro (Mcmanaman 83), Fletcher. Subs Steele (g), Williams, Love, Robson.
Referee David Coote (Notts).