Cats physically outfought on a difficult night at Kenilworth Road
Sunderland’s season ended under the lights at Kenilworth Road with Luton Town supporters running onto the pitch to celebrate.
It was a challenging night for Tony Mowbray’s side as they were beaten 2-0 in the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final, going down 3-2 on aggregate, following first-half goals from Gabriel Osho and Tom Lockyer.
Here are some of the moments you may have missed:
Amad receives stick from the home fans
Following his brilliant equaliser in the first leg, Luton fans knew all about Amad’s quality and how the Manchester United loanee can change the game in an instance.
The 20-year-old also won a cheap penalty to snatch a point for Sunderland when the sides met at the Stadium of Light back in March, something which was still fresh in the memories of Hatters supporters.
Amad was booed from the start by the home fans at Kenilworth Road, especially after he tangled with Lockyer in the first half. The home fans weren’t impressed, chanting ‘cheat’ at the Sunderland playmaker after he went down.
There was also a moment when one Luton supporter appeared to push Amad when the player was retrieving the ball on the touchline.
Luton keeper makes key save
Sunderland almost responded immediately after falling behind, when Luton goalkeeper Ethan Horvath made an instinctive save following Jack Clarke’s in-swinging corner.
At first it looked like Pierre Ekwah had flicked the ball towards the Hatters’ goal, yet replays showed the ball actually came off Luton striker Elijah Adebayo, making the save even more impressive.
Sunderland defender Trai Hume thought the ball had crossed the line, yet replays showed Horvath had kept it out.
The visiting players then appealed for a penalty as Ekwah’s cross hit Luton defender Amari’i Bell on the arm, yet referee Simon Hooper waved play-on.
Carlton Morris’ ‘shocking’ tackle
There was another big moment in the first half when Luton striker Carlton Morris was fortunate to stay on the pitch following a dangerous tackle on Dan Neil.
It was a challenge which would have surely been reviewed if VAR had been available.
Reacting to the tackle on Twitter, George Elek from the Not Top 20 Podcast commented: ‘Morris tackle a shocker for sure.’
Luton create a difficult environment
Despite the aforementioned incidents, Sunderland can have few complaints that Luton were the better side on the night.
The home crowd of 10,013 created a lively atmosphere from the off, while Rob Edwards’ side pressed from the front impressively, giving Sunderland little chance to breathe.
Luton were also quick to send the ball into the Black Cats’ box at every opportunity, making the most of their physical advantage.
The home team also elected not to water the pitch before the match, clearly wary of Sunderland’s technical players and the slick passing moves the Black Cats are capable of.
Alex Pritchard’s injury scare
Sunderland were also still dealing with several injury issues, with Alex Pritchard and Patrick Roberts ‘touch and go’ before the second leg.
Both players started the match, yet Pritchard did have another injury scare during the pre-match warm-up when he went down during a passing drill.
The 30-year-old did continue with a grimace on his face before running off the issue.
Pritchard helped relieve some pressure in possession in the first half but was replaced by Aji Alese just before the hour mark.