Preston do us again
10 Jan 2007
Preston North End 1 Sunderland 0
Having lost 4-1 in the league match at Deepdale and 1-0 at The Stadium of Light as recently as last week, Sunderland were always going to find it difficult against high-flying Preston.
But the improvement in form at Sunderland was obvious for all to see as Sunderland started off very brightly and, in terms of possession, had the advantage. However, there was no real cutting edge and, any half chances were going the way of the home side on their few forays into the Sunderland box.
In fact Brett Ormerod missed a great chance when he was clean through, lifting the ball over the keeper but missing the target. Sunderland continued to control the game and push forward but Elliott and Murphy both shot wide. As Sunderland tried to play offside the ever-alert Ormerod broke clear and rounded Ward before sliding the ball confidently home to put Preston ahead.
As if it was not going to be difficult enough to get back into the game, this was made even harder due to the sending-off of Liam Miller, who stupidly pulled down David Nugent to earn his second yellow card in six minutes.
Ormerod then missed an easier chance than the one he scored from when Ward blocked his shot and then missed another chance with afree header from six yards.
However the ten men were showing plenty of grit and pushed Preston deep into their own half for long periods but the closest they came to equalising was four minutes from time when the impressive David Connolly saw his goal bound shot hit Kelvin Wilson and spin wide.
Roy Keane will not be happy now that Sunderland are not in the draw for the fourth round of the F.A. Cup but this was a bright performance in difficult circumstances which augurs well for the future and he must have been very satisfied with the performance of on-loan signing Jonny Evans from Manchester United who put in a tremendous performance at the back.
FOOTNOTE: Roy Keane has moved swiftly in the January transfer window to sign 18 year old scoring sensation Anthony Stokes from Arsenal for a fee in the region of £2.5 million. Stokes spent the first half of the season on loan at Falkirk where he scored 16 goals in 18 games including back-to-back hat-tricks, a feat only ever achieved by a certain Henrik Larsson, who himself is back in the headlines following his debut goal for Manchester United.
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