Sunderland kicked off their Carabao cup campaign by hosting Crewe Alexandra in the first round, and losing to the League Two side on penalties.
Sunderland were once again rather directionless without any strikers on the pitch, especially in the first half. A late first-half goal by Luke Offord made it 0-1 going into the break. After a number of substitutions, Sunderland were more threatening going forward. They did find an equaliser through youngster Chris Rigg, but failed to find a winner. Crewe would triumph 5-3 on penalties.
Crewe had the best chance early on. After Danny Batth sloppily gave away a free kick on the edge of the box, Jack Powell stepped up and fired into the post.
Sunderland would find themselves conceding on the cusp of half time for the second game in a row. Luke Offord towered over everyone and headed home at the near post from a corner via Joel Tabiner.
At half time it was Sunderland 0-1 Crewe Alexandra. Simply not good enough, despite the squad rotation - they're a League Two team.
An equaliser was found for Sunderland just past the hour mark. 16 year old Chris Rigg found the net, his first ever senior goal in a competitive fixture. Niall Huggins played the ball into the box and it was knocked by a Crewe defender straight into the path of Rigg. It makes him the youngest goalscorer in Sunderland's rich history, as well as the League Cup's youngest goalscorer. It's amazing that he was born in 2007.
The Black Cats then almost went ahead when Pierre Ekwah struck the post following a shot from outside the box.
Bradley Dack, on his debut, almost struck gold in the dying embers as he was denied by a brilliant stop at close range by Harvey Davies.
The game went to penalties after finishing 1-1.
All five of Crewe’s penalties were scored and a poor penalty from Pierre Ekwah that was saved by Davies ensured an early end to Sunderland’s EFL Cup campaign. The performance again highlighted the need for an experienced striker who can hold the ball up and find the net. We say this every week at this point, but it's more glaringly obvious every week.
ALS Man of the Match - The Fans: Fair play to those who sat through 90 minutes of this game. Hopefully we see an improved performance away to Preston on Saturday...
