Match Day Thread Fulham FC v Sunderland AFC – FA Cup - Saturday 28th January 2023 - KO 15:00

Love how he has developed since the world cup break. Just love this team, so many players that you just cant help but love

 

We held our own against a team that's in the top half of the Premier League, played some great football and very nearly won it. Those players can hold their heads high, they gave their all and I can't pick out 1 player for MOTM. An absolutely brilliant game of football!

 

If I had to pick out a MOTM it would be Patto, the lad was brilliant

 

Fantastic performance great work rate from every player. The desire to perform and play football is something I haven’t seen in a Sunderland team for a long time. Well played everyone and safe journey home to our magnificent supporters.

 

I know how Wayne Mardle feld during his commentary of the darts final (for those that seen/heard it) now when Rigg put that away. ****ing hell I was up out if my seat, the cat nearly **** itself.

 

Bloody love these kids. Fabulous performance. Commentators absolutely loving how these young lads are playing. Fearless

 

FFS

 

Patto or Roberts for Motm for me...but for sheer constancy ...Hume is proving to be a fantastic signing...really impressed with this kid

 

Watched on TV. Lads were class. I’m loving this club

 

Such a shame that Rigg's goal didn't stand, and awful to lose Rosscoe, but a brilliant game from the lads.

 

What a day, what a game, so proud of the lads, and the noise from our supporters never stopped from start to finish. Shame about Stewart but for me there was no decision regarding playing him, he had to be in the team.
What a brilliant time to be a lads fan!

 

Me and me da (90) jumping around like mad men when Rigg 'scored'.
Gutted for him (and us).

 

I'm at work and when Rigg scored, jumped out my chair like a lunatic!

 

I hope the few lads that had doubts against Patto, have now had a change of heart, for me he was outstanding tonight and made some spectacular saves and being his young age , this lad will go on to being one of our greats, another Monty with more game time.Well done son my cap off to you.

 

Well I wish stewart, and your dad, a speedy recovery.

 

What a fantastic game of football. Fulham more than played their part and made it a competitive game.

We were very impressive though. They were clearly more physical than us and moved the ball around at pace early on but we held our own. We showed courage from the very start to come into this game and take our game to them. The Stewart injury actually showed just how far we've come. His injury in the warm up against Boro earlier in the season ruined our game and we seemed to come out a bit disillusioned. None of that today, these lads showed great character and kept up their intensity believing they could get a result.

As for individual performances, I thought the subs (1 player aside) were the only ones who looked a little ineffective, but that's to be expected for a couple of them. The rest of the team were, to a man, magnificent.

Hume, Ballard, Neil, Michut, Amad, Roberts and Clarke could have all been man of the match on a different day. But Anthony Patterson stood large above them all today. He made a string of excellent saves, not just the flying ones that look good for the cameras, but the reaction ones, the ones where he stayed big, the ones where he parried into the right places and the ones that looked easy because his positioning was spot on. He put in the best performance of his Sunderland career today.

Final mentions for Chris Rigg who is so unlucky not to go into the history books tonight as the youngest ever goal scorer in the FA Cup. He doesn't look out of place at all technically and when he fills out a little, it's hard to see what will stop him going all the way to the top.

 

Tim Sherwood on Soccer Saturday saying Amad Diallo should be starting for Man Utd ahead of Antony.

 

Excellent post

 

Andy’s Player Ratings: Fulham 1-1 Sunderland - Lads outstanding against Premier League opponents

Despite losing Ross Stewart to injury, Sunderland more than held their own and were unlucky not to beat Premier League Fulham at Craven Cottage. Here’s how Andy rated the Lads!

By Andy Tomlinson@SAFCsource Jan 28, 2023, 5:15pm GMT


Anthony Patterson: 9/10
I thought he was flawless today, made some good saves and claimed pretty much everything that came his way.

Trai Hume: 8/10
Was up against a really tricky winger in Solomon but held his own all game and has really made the right back berth his own.


Dan Ballard: 9/10
Threw himself in front of everything and the block in the first half that prevented a goal was nothing sort of sensational.

Danny Batth (C): 8/10
As solid a game as you would expect from Batth, very rarely lets us down.

Aji Alese: 5/10
Didn’t look quite at it today, not sure he is back to full fitness yet. Was under pressure a lot, with a lot of attacks coming down his side, not helped by being booked.

Edouard Michut: 8/10
Really good performance in the middle of the park, defended great and always used the ball well. Played a sublime ball to Clarke that the winger really should have done better with.

Dan Neil: 9/10
Best opponents he has played in his career and he stepped up with ease, was all over the pitch defending and typically elegant on the ball.

Patrick Roberts: 9/10
He will be kicking himself for not scoring, had enough chances but he ran the left side of Fulham’s defence ragged at times.

Amad: 9/10
Like Roberts, he really should have scored but it was great to see the link up between the two continue away to a Premier League side. Looks accomplished at that level.

Jack Clarke: 7/10
Stole the ball for the opener when he ran in on goal and finished with ease. Not at his best just yet but could have had another goal, first when the ball broke to him after a Roberts shot and then when played in by Michut but decided to let the defender back in rather than running at goal.

Ross Stewart: 6/10
Was just getting into the game when he went down with what looked like a serious achilles injury.

Substitutes
Abdoullah Ba: 7/10
Worked hard on the left hand side, gave Huggins plenty of protection in the first half but strayed offside right at the end to deny Rigg a winner.

Niall Huggins: 7/10
Came on at half-time for Alese and that helped shore up our left back area, with Fulham not as threatening from that side after the break.

Jewison Bennette: 6/10
A keen display by Bennette, showing plenty of running.

Pierre Ekwah: 7/10
A promising debut, looks like a unit and had a couple of chances to get a goal.

Chris Rigg: 7/10
Only came on late but made an impact with his closing down and was so close to scoring a famous winner only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.

Man of the Match: Dan Neil
There were a few contenders for this today but I thought Dan Neil was top class. Stepped up against a Premier League side in the first game without the regular captain Corry Evans and he played like a captain himself. Covered every blade of grass while closing down Fulham but also found time to show his quality on the ball.

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