SEB LARSSON admits Sunderland could only blame themselves for squandering the chance to extend their resurgent charge away from danger.
John O’Shea’s maiden Sunderland goal in the closing stages of the first half of Saturday’s clash with Spurs looked to have laid the foundations for a third successive Premier League victory for Martin O’Neill’s men.
But six minutes after the interval, Sunderland were behind.
First, Carlos Cuellar headed into his own net and then Aaron Lennon profited from a fortuitous ricochet off makeshift left-back Matt Kilgallon to put fourth-placed Spurs ahead.
Swedish midfielder Larsson blasted the manner of the goals Sunderland conceded and says the Black Cats blew a golden opportunity to put more points on the board.
“I feel it’s a game where we’ve thrown points away,” said the 27-year-old.
“I know Spurs are a good team, but we conceded two very poor goals. If we hadn’t done that we would have gone on to win the game.
“I don’t think Spurs had to work very hard to get their goals and that’s the disappointment from our side.
“Fair enough if they cut us open and scored some brilliant goals, but they didn’t do that.
“An own goal is unfortunate, but we never should have conceded the second.”
Larsson felt Sunderland again maintained the form from their victories over Southampton and Manchester City during the first half, with Emmanuel Adebayor’s shot against the crossbar the only genuine opportunity for the visitors.
But Sunderland paid the price for conceding so early after the re-start, when they had gone into the interval on a real high.
“I thought we did exceptionally well in the first half and were in the same form as we had been in the Man City and Southampton games, really solid,” added Larsson on the club’s website.
“We kept our shape and frustrated Tottenham, as well as looking dangerous on the counter-attack.
“We went in at half-time in front and then unfortunately we just threw that away in the second half.
“It’s a major disappointment.”
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