Sunderland were defeated by Stoke City at the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup third round after 30 minutes of extra-time on Saturday.
Tom Cannon’s penalty in the first half put the visitors ahead before Milan Aleksic equalised for Sunderland. Neither team could find a winner in normal time, so the game headed for an additional 30 minutes. Stoke substitute Niall Ennis rounded Simon Moore to hand Mark Robins his first win as Stoke City boss in the second period of extra time.
Le Bris opted to name five changes ahead of the game, with Aaron Connolly, Chris Rigg, Harrison Jones, Leo Hjelde and Simon Moore replacing Wilson Isidor, Jobe Bellingham, Patrick Roberts, Chris Mepham and Anthony Patterson after Sunderland’s last league game against Portsmouth.
Stoke City took the lead just four minutes in after Dan Neil played a poor ball at Moore’s chest. The goalkeeper controlled it and hooked it away, only for Luke O’Nien to give away the penalty, which was dispatched by Cannon to put Mark Robins’ side ahead.
Le Bris’ side looked shaky during the opening stages of the game but enjoyed a half-decent opportunity to break from a Stoke corner as Connolly raced down the pitch, the ball eventually came to Aouchiche, who saw his shot cannon off teammate Neil. It was a move that summed up the home side’s performance during the opening exchanges.
There were more signs of life from Sunderland in the 28th minute when Rigg played a lovely cross-field switch to Aouhciche, but his cross was cut out ahead of Connolly, who seconds later won the Black Cats a free-kick just outside of the box in a central area. The striker took the set-piece but could only find the wall. O’Nien should have put Sunderland back on an equal footing after Hume’s free-kick in from the right but managed to head over as the two sides headed into the break with Stoke City one up.
There were no changes from either side at half-time as Sunderland looked to find an equaliser against Stoke after the break. The away side had a flurry of shots in the succeeding minutes without troubling Moore in goal. In an unfortunate event, defender Alese was stretchered off with a knee injury in the second half and replaced by Zak Johnson. Rigg was then replaced by Aleksic who nicked Sunderland’s equaliser shortly after with a nice assist from Aouchiche.
In the 68th minute, Mayenda missed a good chance to put Sunderland ahead for the first time. Stoke brought on Lynden Gooch for Enda Stevens, Tatsuki Seko for Sol Sidibe alongside Bae Jun-Ho for Lewis Koumas and Niall Ennis for Cannon as time ticked away. With 12 minutes to play, Jones was replaced by Samed for his Sunderland debut. With a minute of normal time to go, Connolly stung the palms of Johansson before the tie ended 1-1. With no more FA Cup replays, the clash headed to extra-time.
Former Sunderland man Gooch produced a decent save from Moore with 92 minutes on the board. Burger was replaced by Emre Tezgel shortly afterwards. Hume fired a low ball into Stoke’s box with 60 seconds left of the first period of extra time, but Aouhciche couldn’t get on the end of it properly. Connolly fired over just after. It remained 1-1 after the first period of extra time concluded. During the interval, Le Bris brought on attacker Nazariy Rusyn for defender Leo Hjelde as Sunderland looked to win the game before penalties.
With just eight minutes to play and seconds after Trey Ogunsuyi had been brought on for Mayenda, Stoke netted their second goal through Ennis, who rounded Moore to hand Robins his first win as Stoke City manager.
Here, we take a look at how James Copley rated each Sunderland player during the FA Cup third clash against Stoke City at the Stadium of Light:
1. Simon Moore
Couldn't do a lot with Dan Neil's hospital pass for Stoke City's opener but his sloppy distribution handed the Potters a chance to make it two before half-time. Struggled again with the ball at his feet after the break. Saved well from Gooch in extra time but was rounded by Ennis for the winner. 6 | Frank Reid
2. Trai Hume
Kept making runs and trying to advance the ball forward from right back. Always full of energy and battled well throughout. Good effort from him. 7 Photo: Jess Hornby/PA Wire
3. Aji Alese
Steady enough in the first half and combined well with Adil Aouchiche. Gutting to see the defender stretchered off with a knee injury in the second half. Was replaced by Zak Johnson. We all wish him well. 6. | Frank Reid Photo: Frank Reid
4. Luke O'Nien
Gave away the penalty for Stoke City's opener but improved as the first half went on following a very shaky opening 10 minutes of the game. Decent in the second half. Part of a very disjointed back-line throughout. Played the whole 120 minutes. 5 | Chris Fryatt