Sunderland played their hearts out to secure a 1-0 away victory at Nottingham Forest. Apathy was the word used by the manager to describe his players after a 3-0 defeat to Sheffield Utd, but there was no apathy on display today, with a spirited performance capped off by a stunning Aiden McGeady header. A great way to end the year.
The less said about Boxing Day the better, to be honest. While our home draw against Birmingham was a bit of a sickener given our dominance of the game, there was no defence for losing 3-0 away at Sheffield Utd.
Coleman nailed it when he said that player apathy was the problem he was facing. I don’t understand how you can switch off mentally when you’re on 20k a week, myself, but then I’m not a professional footballer so perhaps my opinion is invalid. Either way, some of these players don’t care, and Coleman has to find a way to make them.
Ruiter
Love, Browning, O’Shea, Wilson, Matthews
Honeyman, Gibson, McManaman
McGeady
Maja
Forest enjoyed the better spells of possession for the first 20 minutes. Daryl Murphy tried one from 30 yards, curling up and around the keeper — rooted to the spot as standard — but thankfully it was wide of the mark. You could have put your house on Murphy converting against us in the home fixture earlier this campaign, though not many predicted the assist from Tyias Browning.
Josh Maja was certainly a wildcard in the starting XI, and played that way in the opening half-hour. He’s strong with his back to goal, and is surprisingly quick on the turn despite his size. That being said, I don’t think he’s quite at the level where he should be starting for Sunderland regularly. In the Christmas period however, where fixture congestion is a major issue, there’s no harm in giving the lad the nod.
I’m not a fan of Darron Gibson, but it would only be fair to say that he has stepped his game up massively since Coleman’s arrival (perhaps forced by the omission of Cattermole). While Gibson isn’t the most creative player and lacks that required element of ingenuity, he always seems to be looking for the ball and isn’t afraid to attempt the pass when the opportunity arises. The very fact that his teammates are giving him the ball for him to make things happen is perhaps more telling than his actual performance on paper.
Just as it seemed as though we couldn’t buy a chance if they were in the Boxing Day sales…
GOAL – Sunderland – McGeady – 40 mins
Sunderland advanced with Maja holding onto the ball outside the box. He slid it to his left to find the run of Adam Matthews, who took no time in whacking the ball into the centre where three Sunderland bodies were waiting. Aiden McGeady, the unlikeliest of suspects, timed his leap perfectly and generated enough power to send the header back across the keeper and into the net. A distant roar from the away fans followed, and Sunderland were 1-0 up. One shot, one goal.
Half-time soon arrived and the Forest fans booed their team off the pitch given their impotent first half showing where Daryl Murphy seized every chance but failed to covert with any of them. Contrastingly, Sunderland turned their only opportunity of the first half — a scintillating cross from Adam Matthews — into a lovely goal off the heed of McGeady.
Forest immediately went on the attack following the restart, sending a speculative cross into the box that was only just scrambled away by the shaky-but-alert Sunderland defence.
George Honeyman nicked the ball inside his own half and fought hard to hold onto it, advancing with pace and hunger. Honeyman can draw his fair share of criticism, but his work rate is exceptional.
Ex-Sunderland man David Vaughan crippled Honeyman with a crunching tackle, but the ref was happy to keep the game physical and waved play on. Forest took advantage, slipping through a nice pass ready to be centred from the left-hand side. But McManaman showed intelligence and experience to draw a foul, putting himself between the player and the ball to force the ref’s hand.
McManaman’s game was cut short in the 70th minute, Lynden Gooch coming on and immediately winning a corner for the lads. James Vaughan had also come on for Josh Maja, the former doing two player on the half-way line with a mouth-watering Cruyff turn. No need for it, but a personal highlight for sure.
Sunderland were doing exceptionally well to break down Forest attacks and regain possession. While our own chance creation was less than efficient, we never once stood off and let Forest carry the ball, even in the latter stages of the game where it became clear that we were more tired than they were. With the home crowd screaming for something to happen, Forest became more and more frustrated, conceding fouls and playing sloppy passes.
James Vaughan personified our work rate late in the second half. After a Sunderland attack was broken up, Vaughan sprinted back and delivered a crunching tackle to quell a potential counter attack for Forest. Coleman raced out to applaud his strike-come-defender, and the travelling Sunderland fans made themselves heard in recognition of the tremendous effort shown by their players.
It’s not often you see your side create such few chances and feel proud of the performance, but Sunderland really did work their socks off today. Darron Gibson was a revelation while Honeyman showed intelligence and drive to make things happen. Tyias Browning was solid at the back and Adam Matthews delivered the cross of the season to pick out Aiden McGeady for the goal.
A nice way to the end the year — more of the same please, fellas.
Final Score: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Sunderland
ALS MotM: Adam Matthews
By Chris Thompson
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