Sunderland defender Chris Mepham delivers 'surprised' verdict on Luke O'Nien penalty miss vs Millwall

Sunderland defender Chris Mepham has admitted that he was “a little bit surprised” to see Luke O’Nien step up to take a late penalty for the Black Cats against Millwall on Saturday afternoon.

Regis Le Bris’ side ran out 1-0 winners against the Lions at the Stadium of Light thanks to a sweetly-struck first-half volley from Trai Hume, but could arguably have opened up a more commanding lead at several points in the contest, and squandered a gilded opportunity to put the game to bed when Romaine Mundle was awarded a spot kick in the closing stages.

Somewhat unexpectedly, O’Nien was handed the responsibility of taking the penalty, but was thwarted by Millwall keeper Lukas Jensen, who read the 30-year-old’s relatively tame effort with ease. That miss now means that Sunderland have failed to score any of their last four penalties.

What did Chris Mepham say about Luke O’Nien’s penalty miss vs Millwall?

Reflecting on the incident during a post-match press conference, Mepham admitted that he was caught off guard when O’Nien stepped forward to take the penalty, while also suggesting that he understood the logic behind the decision.

He said: “I was a little bit surprised [that O'Nien took it] but at the same time knowing the amount of work Luke puts in and the amount of extras, focusing on his technique and his striking of the ball. He's probably arguably the best to step up and take a penalty so I didn't have any doubts. But it's been a weird one with penalties this season, we've been unfortunate.”

When asked about who he believed should take Sunderland’s next penalty, the 27-year-old joking replied: “I'll probably take myself out that situation!”

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What did Regis Le Bris say about Sunderland’s late penalty miss?

In a post-match interview of his own, head coach Le Bris was asked about his side’s persistent penalty woes, to which he responded: “I don't know, what can I answer? Yes, it's a problem because from an xG perspective, this is the best situation, the best chance we could have and at the minute we struggled a lot and it's an important topic for us, for the future and for now because with a second goal, the end of the game should have been easier and it wasn't the case.”

“I don't know, so far Luke was really good during the training sessions, I think he scored before Sunderland. So it's more a question of, I don't think a defender or an offensive player is more skilful for that specific exercise, we'll work on it, sure.”

Le Bris was also asked about Romaine Mundle’s reaction to O’Nien being allowed to take the penalty on Saturday, with the winger seemingly frustrated by the decision in the immediate aftermath. The Sunderland boss replied: “It was decided before the game but yes, he was a bit emotional but it's not a problem, we'll talk about it a bit later.” When pressed on who would take the club’s next penalty, the Sunderland head coach said: “I don't know, we'll have a conversation with the players.”

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