Sunderland 2-3 Fulham – Match Report & Player Ratings

Report

Sunderland put in an inspiring performance against a Premier League side, but just came short in the end.

Fulham are through to the 5th round of the F.A Cup after beating Sunderland 2-3 at the Stadium of Light.

Fulham took the lead early on thanks to a brilliant first time finish by Harry Wilson with the outside of his foot.

Sunderland started to grow into the game as the half went on, but struggled to convert any chances due to having no strikers on the pitch.

Diallo almost scored from around 20 yards out, just before half-time, but it was well saved by Rodak.

The Black Cats really put the pressure on in the second half, and they had 2 real chances early on.

Patrick Roberts forced a brilliant save from Rodak, and moments later, Amad thought he had scored but his effort was cleared off the line by Shane Duffy.

Against the run if play, Fulham doubled their lead in the 59th minute after Mitrovic found a way through, his effort was well saved by Patterson but Sunderland failed to react and Mitrovic found Periera who prodded home from close range.

With just under 15 minutes left, Jack Clarke gave Sunderland a bit of hope with a beautifully curled finish from just inside the box, giving the ‘keeper no chance.

5 minutes later, Fulham looked to have put the game to bed as Pereira’s corner caused a scramble in the box and Kurzawa volleyed the ball into the net from 6-yards out.

The young Black Cats kept on fighting late on and Jewison Bennette gave Sunderland a slight bit of hope right at the end when he found a way through and smashed the ball into the top corner.

Despite being defeated, the lads put in a brilliant performance against a top 8 Premier League side.

Player Ratings

Anthony Patterson – 6

Made a few decent saves, could have maybe done slightly better for their opener.

Trai Hume – 7

Another great performance. Got stuck in and defended really well at times.

Dan Ballard – 7

Despite conceding 3 goals, he defended well against Mitrovic and he did really well throughout.

Danny Batth – 7

Same as Ballard.

Aji Alese – 7

Offered alot going forward and defended well at times too.

Dan Neil – 7

Quiet in the first half hour but he grew into the game and looked dangerous on the ball in the second half.

Edouard Michut – 7

A few nice touches and he also grew into the game. Looked comfortable in midfield against a very physical side.

Abdoulah Ba – 6

Played in a more advanced role, he didn’t do too bad by any means, but he didn’t look comfortable playing so far forward at times.

Patrick Roberts – 7

Looked very dangerous going forward and linked up really well with Amad as usual, almost scored the equaliser.

Amad – 7

Started to tire out before he came off but he was very unlucky not to equalise and created some good chances.

Jack Clarke – 7

Quiet in the first half, but he did really well in the second and scored a fantastic goal.

SUBS

Alex Pritchard – 7

Created some chances and looked very lively when he came on.

Luke O’Nien – 7

Battled well in midfield and lofted in a brilliant free-kick which created our second goal.

Chris Rigg – 6

Ran around and fought well, didn’t see much of the ball.

Jewison Bennette – 7

Added some more pace to our attack in the closing stages, scored a brilliant goal which gave us a little bit of hope.

MoTM – Very hard to chose a player of the match, as it was a great team performance as a whole, but if I had to pick, I would chose Jack Clarke for his wonderful goal!