This report has been superseded by SAFC 0 Man Utd 0: two dropped points
Our ingenious ruse, attempting to destabilise Manchester United by bursting a pipe in the away dressing room, nearly paid off .. but after the plumbing-delayed start, we couldn’t quite turn first-half supremacy into a lead …
All I have to go on is the BBC Radio Newcastle radio commentary via the offical SAFC club site. I cannot bring myself to watch an internet stream that I know is many seconds or even, in one case today, minutes behind the action.
But the commentary from Nick Barnes and Gary Bennett is good, if partisan (pro-SAFC despite the name of the station).
And there does not seem to be the slightest doubt that Sunderland deserved to go in at half-time with a lead of at least one goal.
Virtually all the action – with the exception of an obligatory bit of Nani rolling around hoping for whatever he was hoping for (and that incident I did catch on the web) – has been in the Manchester United half.
Malbranque went desperately close after one great move involving Cattermole; other moves ended in a stream of corners, on none of which – typically – could we capitalise.
Just a pity the chance, not the only one of the half but the best, fell to Steed: good as he is in most aspects of his game, finishing is not his prime asset.
And we also hit the post. From the East Stand, Pete Sixsmith’s HT verdict was “0-0 but by far the better side”.
But we cannot relax and say how well we’ve done. United are past masters at turning it on just when necessary. Another good performance, and a bit more cutting edge, is vital in the second half if we are to emerge with something from this game.
Colin Randall