Sunderland 0 Mansfield Town 1: Story of the day Cats crash out of the FA Cup after Rhys Oates goal at the Stadium of Light
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Stags striker Rhys Oates scored the only goal of the game after six minutes, capitalising on an error from Sunderland goalkeeper Lee Burge.
Lee Johnson made four substitutions at half-time, yet his side still struggled to create chances as their League Two opponents progressed to the next round.
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Hide AdIt's the second year running that Mansfield have beaten Sunderland in the FA Cup after The Stags claimed a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light last year.
The Black Cats won’t have another league game until November, 20 after their game against Lincoln was postponed due to international call-ups.
Sunderland’s next game will come in the Papa John’s Trophy against Bradford next week.
Here’s how the game against Mansfield played out.
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RECAP: Sunderland 0 Mansfield 1 (Oates, 6)
Key Events
- Sunderland XI: Burge, Alves (Winchester, 45), Wright, Flanagan (Doyle, 45), Cirkin (O’Nien, 72), Evans, Neil, Dajaku (Gooch, 45), Embleton, O’Brien (Pritchard, 45) , Broadhead
- Subs: Hoffmann, Doyle, Gooch, O’Nien, Winchester, Taylor, Pritchard, Younger, Harris
- Mansfield XI: Bishop, Hewitt, Hawkins, O’Toole, McLaughlin, Lapsile (Sinclair, 84), Clarke, Maris, Quinn, Charsley, Oates (Bowery, 63)
- Subs: Bowery, Johnson, Shelvey, Burke, Sinclair, Ward, Clarke, Forrester, Law
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for today’s match.
Sunderland predicted XI: Burge, Younger, Alves, Wright, Dyce; Evans, Neil; Embleton, Pritchard, Dakaku; Broadhead
Mansfield predicted XI: Bishop; Gordon, Rawson, Hawkins, McGlaughlin; Maris, Charsley, Quinn, Clarke; Johnson, Oates
Clough on facing Sunderland
Mansfield beat Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light last year, with Clough watching in the stands before taking charge of the team last November.
Here’s what he had to say ahead of today’s match.
“It was an eerie Stadium of Light with no fans and no noise last year.
“I saw an honest Mansfield give everything and deservedly get the win.
“It lifted everyone, people were low and the result lifted things.
“We are encountering a different Sunderland, they have improved tremendously over the last 12 months.
“They have a much better squad, as shown by them beating QPR to get to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals despite resting players.
“The league remains their priority and they will pick a team that reflects that. I’m sure they would like to win but not at the price of risking players.”
The inside track on Mansfield
To find out more about today’s opponents, we caught up with Stephen Thirkill at our sister title The Mansfield and Ashfield Chad to get the inside track on The Stags.
Nigel Clough’s side are 20th in League Two after 15 games but did beat Tranmere 2-0 last time out.
“It has been a nightmare season for Mansfield. The club won their first two matches and optimism was high that they could realistically challenge for promotion,” said Stephen.
“But it has all gone wrong in spectacular fashion, with major injuries issues adding to bad luck and refereeing decisions going against the side.
“Stags turned in an excellent display at the weekend to beat Tranmere - their first league win since August 14.”
Read more HERE
Lee Johnson on his selection decisions
Here’s what the Sunderland boss said about today’s team selection.
“I’ll pick the best team to go and win it.
“We have had a couple playing with bumps and bruises, so it might be an opportunity to give those a rest.
“But we would do that in any scenario.
“To be brutally truthful, if you wrote off the cup competitions this year we would have more energy for the league, wouldn’t we? There’s no doubting that.
“But you want to win games, and when you pick a team, I don’t care if it’s 5-a-side, tiddlywinks, the FA Cup, the Papa John’s, once you’re there, there’s a fanbase watching you, you want to win. Simple as that.”
Team news
Johnson says he’ll name a strong side today, which is likely to include forward Nathan Broadhead.
The Everton loanee has been sidelined with hamstring injury in recent weeks but came off the bench against Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday.
Defender Arbenit Xhemajli, who has been out with a long-term injury, is unlikely to be involved but could feature against Bradford in the Papa John’s Trophy next week.
Under-23s players Stephen Wearne, Will Harris and Oliver Younger are expected to be in the squad today.
Niall Huggins and Denver Hume remain out.
It’s Matchday!
Sunderland will return to the Stadium of Light today, with Lee Johnson’s side set to host Mansfield Town in the first round of the FA Cup.
While the league is clearly the priority, Johnson says he will still name a strong side for today’s match following two heavy defeats in League One against Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday.
We’ll have all of the build-up ahead of today’s match as well as in-game analysis and post-match reaction.
Stick around and refresh the page for live updates throughout the day.