Karl Robinson hauls his Oxford United side in for debrief after 'atrocious' Sunderland showing

Karl Robinson has hauled his side in for a Sunday debrief after their ‘atrocious’ second-half showing against Sunderland.
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The Black Cats ran out 2-0 winners in a vital clash, registering their first League One victory of the season.

It had been a tight first half with little quality from either side, but Sunderland were dominant in the second period and never looked back after Luke O’Nien’s goal in the moments after the restart.

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There was a hint of fortune about the opening goal, but the Black Cats more than deserved their second after an excellent perfomance.

Lynden Gooch scores Sunderland's second goal at the Kassam StadiumLynden Gooch scores Sunderland's second goal at the Kassam Stadium
Lynden Gooch scores Sunderland's second goal at the Kassam Stadium

Robinson was left fuming with his players, who struggled to force any saves from Lee Burge.

"Their goal came from two wicked deflections and then it’s a great finish," Robinson said.

"Easty (Simon Eastwood) is still on the move and he can’t do anything about that.

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"It’s the reaction from that goal to the second goal I’m absolutely furious about."

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“Some of the stuff in that period was atrocious, that’s as bad a performance in the second half as I’ve seen,” he added.

"I know what I want to say, but equally I’ve got to be very careful with what I do say for the benefit of the players who are in the club right now.

"We’ll be in tomorrow morning, very early, and we’ll be going through that game."

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Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson admitted he was surprised by his opponent’s direct approach, with Robinson moving to a diamond system and two central strikers.

Oxford surprised us a bit, they probably looked at the conditions and decided to be a bit more direct than they normally do,” Parkinson said.

“They played the diamond and tried to get the ball into the strikers. I thought we stood strong as a team but the back three won a lot of important headers and second balls.

“It doesn't matter what division you play in, but especially in this division, the goalkeepers are going to kick a lot of balls out of the hand and you've got to win them.

“That side of it we did very well today.”

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