Sunderland 3 Fleetwood 1: Story of the night as Luke O'Nien and Jack Clarke goals give Cats vital win
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Fleetwood went ahead in the first half when striker Ellis Harrison beat Anthony Patterson with a low finish.
That prompted Sunderland boss Alex Neil to make a double substitution at half-time, as Jermain Defoe and Lynden Gooch were brought on.
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Hide AdSecond-half goals from Elliot Embleton, substitute Luke O’Nien and Jack Clarke then gave the Black Cats a vital three points.
Fleetwood defender was then sent off for a foul on Ross Stewart three minutes from time.
Here’s how the game played out:
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RECAP: Sunderland 3 (Embleton, 55) (O’Nien, 82) (Clarke, 90+1) Fleetwood 1 (Harrison, 28)
Key Events
- Sunderland XI: Patterson, Winchester, Wright, Xhemajli (Defoe, 45), Cirkin, Evans (Gooch, 45), Matete, Embleton, Clarke, Roberts (O’Nien, 71), Stewart
- Subs: Hoffmann, Doyle, Hume, Neil, Gooch, O’Nien, Defoe
- Fleetwood XI: Cairns, Andrew, Jules, Harrison (G.Garner, 42), Morris (Thiam, 71), C.Johnson, Baggley (Hayes, 51), Lane, Nsiala, Boyle, Johnston
- Subs: O'Hara, Donaghy, Butterworth, G.Garner, Thiam, Hayes, Bird
12’ Sunderland seeing more of the ball now
The hosts have started to control possession with Fleetwood sitting deep in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Boyle playing in front of the back four.
Matete is seeing plenty of the ball and coming short to take the ball off Sunderland’s defenders.
6’ Nervy start from Xhamajli
The Sunderland centre-back has given a few loose passes away already.
The second one went straight to Morris who ran towards goal before Matete blocked the forward’s effort to concede a corner.
3’ Looks like 4-2-3-1
Looks like Sunderland have reverted to a 4-2-3-1 formation with Winchester at right-back.
Clarke is on the left with Roberts on the right and Embleton in the No 10 position.
Fleetwood appear to have started in a 4-3-3 system.
What to make of that side
It’s three changes from the Sunderland side which started at Charlton on Saturday.
Elliot Embleton, Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts are the players who have come in, with Alex Pritchard, Nathan Broadhead and Lynden Gooch dropping out.
Broadhead hasn’t been included in the squad after playing 70 minutes on Saturday.
Jermain Defoe and Luke O’Nien are also back on the bench following injury setbacks.
It looks like Alex Neil could revert to a back four in a 4-2-3-1 system, with Roberts, Clarke and Embleton behind Stewart.
This will be Roberts’ first start since his move to Wearside in January due to a lack of game time.
It certainly looks like an attacking line-up, as you’d expect when playing at home against a struggling side.
Predicted line-ups
Here are our predicted line-ups for tonight’s match.
Predicted Sunderland XI: Patterson, Winchester, Wright, Xhemajli, Cirkin, Evans, Matete, Gooch, Embleton, Clarke, Stewart
Predicted Fleetwood XI: Cairns, Johnson, Clarke, Jules, Andrew, Camps, Johnston, Lane, Morris, Harrison, Pilkington
