Middlesbrough manager 'frustrated' with Leeds United, former Sunderland man faces court after captaincy stripped

Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick bemoaned a number of decisions by the officials after his side fell to a 4-3 home defeat against title-chasing Leeds United on Monday night.

Two goals from in-form forward Emmanuel Latte Lath and an opener from Isaiah Jones were not enough for Boro as Daniel Farke’s men claimed a crucial three points thanks to a Crysencio Summerville brace and a goal apiece from Patrick Bamford and Wilfried Gnonto. It was the latter of those goals that proved to be a source of major frustration for Carrick as he questioned the lack of an offside flag against Gnonto as Leeds took a narrow lead into half-time.

Speaking after the game, Carrick said: “The offside goal (Leeds’ third) is a massive, massive decision, not just for us, but I’m sure there are two other teams that have been affected by it too, in the bigger picture. It’s such a big thing. We asked the boys to defend well and hold the line together, and the line is impeccable really. There’s three of them in the line on the edge of the box, they’re holding the line, and you expect that the offside will be given. It was too clear not to be.

“To be honest, I got really frustrated with the added time too. The board goes up for five minutes, and we end up getting about 18 seconds added on (on top of that). But the ball was out of play for 90 seconds or two minutes within that five minutes that was getting added on. I just get frustrated. Yeah, there’s added time, but then there should be added time onto the added time as well. I got a bit frustrated with that."

Former Sunderland loan star set for court appearance

Former Sunderland defender Dion Sanderson has been stripped of the Birmingham City captaincy after he was charged with drink driving.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender spent the vast majority of the 2020/21 season on loan at the Stadium of Light and made 27 appearances as the Black Cats reached the League One play-offs before suffering a semi-final defeat against Lincoln City. Since returning to Wolves, Sanderson spent time on loan at QPR and Birmingham City before making a permanent move to the latter last summer.

After being a regular in the Blues side throughout the season, Sanderson was hit with disciplinary action last week after he was charged with drink driving and the centre-back will appear in front of magistrates in Birmingham next week. Sanderson has also been stripped of the club captaincy after he apologised for ‘his gross error in judgement’.

A club statement said: "The club was informed by West Midlands Police early last week that Dion Sanderson had been charged in relation to a drink-driving offence. Sanderson reported the incident to club officials on the same day. As a result, disciplinary action was taken by the club and the decision was made to remove the Men’s First Team captaincy from the Blues defender for the remainder of the season. Sanderson has apologised to his teammates for his gross error in judgement and accepts full responsibility for his actions. The matter has been dealt with internally and no further comment will be made at this time."