Sunderland 1 Leeds United 0, match report: Patrick van Aanholt scores winner as visitors pay for slow start
Telegraph 4/1/15Sunderland vs Leeds United - FA Cup third round: Championship side made more of fight of it during second half and nearly forced tie to replay but Liam Cooper’s header hit post
By Luke Edwards, Stadium of Light
So much has changed for these clubs over the course of the last 42 years, but the scoreline remained the same. The last time Sunderland beat Leeds United 1-0 in the FA Cup, it secured a famous victory and their last major trophy. This one felt routine.
Leeds are a pale shadow of the team they were then. Sunderland have improved, although they have not added another trophy to a dusty cabinet since that famous 1973 upset at Wembley.
Having waited for so long for a shot at revenge, Leeds’ tame first-half performance was bewildering. It was only in the second half that this ignited as a cup tie, but even then, Sunderland had more than enough chances to have made their progress into the fourth round smoother.
Leeds had a couple of good moments after Patrick van Aanholt’s wonderful strike had given the Black Cats a deserved lead at half time. Liam Cooper hit the post in stoppage time with a header, but the Championship side did not do enough to come close to an upset. All they have to look forward to between now and May is a relegation battle.
As for Sunderland, they will be looking over their shoulders too as they remain too close to the Premier League’s bottom three, but they reached the final of the Capital One Cup last year and the quarter-finals of this competition. Manager Gus Poyet has no time for those who claim cups are a distraction.
“I love the cup, I’ve always said it, I will always take it seriously” said Poyet, “It can give you special moments, semi-finals and finals . If you don’t want to have a chance of that, don’t bother [playing football].It’s an opportunity, not a distraction “We made changes, but we brought in big names. It was important we won at home, because our record over the last four or five months is embarrassing.”
Sunderland had several chances in the first half and should have taken more of them. Emanuele Giaccherini, making his first start of the season after a lengthy injury absence, was prominent. The Italy international was denied a goal by a good save from Marco Silvestri.
He should have marked his return to the team with an assist, too, but having done the hardwork to set Steven Fletcher up with a wonderful chance, the striker failed to hit the target from six yards.
Leeds’ attacking threat was sporadic and largely ineffectual. Sunderland, though, threatened almost every time they went forward, Ricardo Alvarez’s deflected shot hitting the bar before Casper Sloth cleared his header off the line.
When the goal came, it was a beauty. Left back van Aanholt ran on to a pass from Fletcher and, without breaking stride, drilled a perfectly-placed shot into the far bottom corner.
Leeds came out for the second half with far more purpose. Whatever Redfearn said, it worked. Suddenly it was a proper cup tie, Mirco Antenucci sliding a clever through ball into the feet of Adryan, but his shot was saved by the long leg of Costel Pantilimon.
Pantilimon was needed again moments later, keeping Brian Montenegro’s effort out at his near post.
Leeds thought they had won a penalty almost immediately when Seb Larsson brought down Charlie Taylor, who fell in the box, but the foul had started just outside it. It was a good decision by referee Mike Dean.
Sunderland wobbled, unable to move up a gear having spent the first half on cruise control, but they held firm and should have scored a second.
Fletcher’s finishing was wayward, as was Connor Wickham, but the former was also denied a magnificent save from Silvestri. Leeds had one last chance in stoppage time, but Cooper’s glancing header smacked against the post.
“I thought we played well,” said Neil Redfearn. “We were by far the better team in the second. We said to the players at half-time that we needed to make it a proper cup tie. When we got at them they struggled.”