'Clueless!' Fuming Sunderland fans slam referee after Luke O'Nien denied penalty at Oxford United

With the game evenly poised at 1-1, Luke O’Nien burst into the penalty area but was denied a clear penalty after referee Steve Martin deemed it not to be a foul. Sunderland were then knocked out on penalties.

The decision left Sunderland fans furious:

SAFCFANSVIEW tweeted: “If that’s not a penalty why isn’t o’9 booked!! BLATANT!!!”

Brett Redmayne added: “2 clear penalties not given, this referee is clueless #safc”

SpeakSAFC Speak Sunderland tweeted: “The ‘dive’ in the eyes of another league one referee ...

“What a joke, blatant.”

Reflecting on the game, Jordan Ramsey tweeted: “How have we hit the post/bar 5 times in less than 180 mins? #safc”

Ecco_in Ecco added: “We must hit the woodwork more than any other team in the football league #SAFC”

Jordan Ramsey added: “Sideways, Sideways, backwards, HOOF. #safc”

Feeleyyyy Brandon added: “Atrocious away form - terrible defence - inconsistent attackers. Phil Parkinson is the right man to take Sunderland forward but he’s got a lot of work to do. #Safc”

Fantanafest73 SteveB tweeted: “McGeady is woeful at the moment, Max Power is on minimum power most of the time, #safc midfield is broken.....”

Stuart Bailey added: “Good save from JM but to be honest he should’ve scored, everytime they go forward they seem to have time in our box #SAFC”

JClay05 Jason added: “Very frustrating that they’ve gone defensive from the beginning. Not playing to win. #safc”