Ten man Sunderland lost 3-1 to Swansea in blustery conditions at the SOL on Saturday. Luke O’Nien was shown a straight red card after a stupid challenge on the half way line before Swansea took the lead through Joel Piroe early in the second half. Dan Neil drew Sunderland level but the visitors sealed the points with strikes from Cullen and Cooper but the game was overshadowed by some awful refereeing decisions against Tony Mowbray’s side.
After last weekend’s late turnaround in the FA Cup away at Shrewsbury the lads were back in action at the SOL looking to record their first victory on Wearside in 2023 and extend their unbeaten run to six games.
There were no fresh injury concerns for Tony Mowbray ahead of the game in fact the news from the treatment room was positive. Mowbray revealed Danny Baath and Corry Evans were back in contention to feature whilst Niall Huggins was back in training though he was unlikely to be involved.
Fresh from being nominated as Manager of the Month for December Mowbray was giving little away about the clubs transfer activity in January, though admitted the club are working hard to recruit. The gaffer also revealed some fringe players may follow Jay Matete out of the door on loan before the transfer window ends.
Mowbray made five changes to the side that started at Shrewsbury last Saturday with Anthony Patterson starting in goal behind a back four of Hume, O’Nien, Ballard and Gooch. Corry Evans and Dan Neil anchored the midfield behind the attacking trio of Roberts, Clarke and Diallo. Ross Stewart led the line up front.
The visitors got the game underway kicking towards their fans in the North Stand but it was Sunderland who nearly got in first after good work from Dan Neil. He won possession and drove forward before finding Ross Stewart but the Scots first time ball to Clarke was slightly over hit. A couple of minutes later we won a free kick in a dangerous position after Roberts was hacked down on the edge of the box. Roberts took the free kick and curled a shot just over the bar.
At the other end the visitors went close when a ball from the left was played infield to Matt Grimes who clipped a left footed shot just wide of the post. Five minutes later Sunderland should have been awarded a penalty when Amad beat his man before spinning round with a clever turn before being clipped on the heel by the Swansea defender. However the ref waved play on and the linesman never flagged even though he had a birds eye view.
Swansea then broke and Luke O’Nien ended up clattering Cooper with a reckless challenge on the half way line which prompted a big melee between both sides before the ref sent O’Nien off. Cabanas for the visitors was shown a yellow card for his part in the ruckus after. This forced Mowbray into a reshuffle with Danny Baath replacing Patrick Roberts.
On the 26th minute a cross from the left from Clarke almost found Baath at the back post but he couldn’t get on the end of it. Two minutes later Anthony Patterson was forced into a save low to his right after a long range effort from the Swansea right back. Ten minutes before the break Swansea won a free kick when Allen was fouled but Patterson saved Piroe’s effort.
Five minutes before the break Sunderland went close when Clarke crossed from the left to Stewart at the front post but he stabbed the ball wide. There was two minutes added on at the end of the first half where Ballard headed a wide before the players left the field before the officials were vociferously booed off.
Neither side made a change at the break before the lads got the second half underway. Swansea had the first effort when Manning fired a left footed shot from the left flank across the goal. At the other end the lads had another shout for a penalty waved away when Dan Neil appeared to be hauled down in the box.
Swansea then took the lead with contentious goal from Joel Piroe. The ball was played over the top of Sunderland's defence before Manning saw a shot loop up towards the goal where despite looking miles offside Piroe rolled it into the back of the net from close range.
The lads responded to the set back and drew level with 25 minutes left with a brilliant goal from Dan Neil. Ross Stewart did brilliantly initially to win a long ball forward against two defenders before finding Neil in the centre circle. Neil tried to play Stewart in on goal but his pass was cut out but Stewart recovered the ball and played it out left for Clarke. Clarke skinned his man then crossed to the back post for Stewart who nodded it back across goal for Neil to blast into the net.
Two minutes later Swansea retook the lead with another goal that had a big slice of good fortune. The ball was crossed from the left by Manning and Batth slid into clear it but It bounced off Cullen and into the back of the net – a total fluke. Sunderland again responded well and Stewart went close a couple of minutes later but his shot was blocked.
With ten minutes to go though the visitors killed the game through Cooper who blasted a powerful effort past Patterson. A shot from Piroe was blocked but fell into the path of Cooper who got into the box before finding the back of the net. Mowbray then made four changes with Ba, Dajaku, Michut and Bennete replacing Evans, Amad, Clarke and Stewart.
The changes didn’t really impact the game and Sunderland didn’t really muster much more in the six added minutes. This is no fault of the lads though they made the best of a bad situation after some diabolical officiating.
Final Score – Sunderland 1 Swansea City 3
ALS Man of the Match – Dan Neil
