Sunderland blew their big chance but can have no complaints

With League One leaders Portsmouth not playing, Sunderland blew their chance to take over top spot by only drawing against Wycombe and with it, the chance to send out a massive statement and strike fear into the rest of this division.
Aiden McGeady was below his best.Aiden McGeady was below his best.
Aiden McGeady was below his best.

It wasn’t until the second half that Wycombe scored their goal and thankfully we did equalise, but it was the first half where Sunderland were well below par and that cost them the chance of winning the game.

Sunderland’s players have been getting a lot of praise and pats on the back lately, rightly so for the good run they’ve been on, so they’ll just have to accept any criticism that comes their way after this draw.

SAFC coverage in association with John Hogg.SAFC coverage in association with John Hogg.
SAFC coverage in association with John Hogg.
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They were more than capable of winning this game, but failed to do so and dropped two precious points.

Take nothing away from Wycombe, they had a gameplan, were disciplined and will feel disappointed not to leave Wearside with all three points.

Their manager Gareth Ainsworth flooded the midfield and controlled the game from there, especially in the first half, leaving George Honeyman and Dylan McGeouch outnumbered and struggling for any meaningful ball retention.

With confidence sky high, I really thought Sunderland would come out all guns blazing, just like at Port Vale, but for some reason they just didn’t look on it, with misplaced passes and poor ball control.

We were definitely second best.

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Up front the attacking players who have been so good lately struggled to make any impact in the first half.

Lynden Gooch couldn’t get in the game, Jerome Sinclair rarely looked like scoring, Chris Maguire, who scored a world-class goal in the last home game, struggled to even get the ball to stick and Aiden McGeady missed the best chance of the half, one that could have given Sunderland an undeserved lead at the break.

There was improvement in the second half, with players coming off the bench more than good enough to make a difference.

But the equaliser came too late, if the game went on for another 10 minutes there was only one winner, but over the 90 minutes there can be no complaints.

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Sunderland’s winning streak might have come to an end, but the unbeaten run goes on – and that’svery important. If you can’t win and you’re not at your best, then at least get something from the game and thanks to Maja, Sunderland did do that.