Coventry City 1-2 Sunderland: Instant reaction

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith and James Copley deliver their verdict as Sunderland beat Coventry City in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi final

Transcript

00:00Hello, welcome to the CBS Arena.

00:02Some have just recorded their first win at Coventry City in 40 years.

00:062-1 goals from Wilson Easton and Eliza Mayender.

00:10Wow.

00:11What were we worried about?

00:12What were we worried about?

00:13Fill your thoughts.

00:14Yeah, I think the first thing to say is that I think a lot of credit to Labriece

00:18because he made two big calls today.

00:20And I'm not just saying it because some of them won the game.

00:22In the context of the whole game, they were the right ones.

00:25Bam Ballard was immense.

00:26That's one of the best individuals in the performances I've seen,

00:28and not just a season by a long time.

00:30How many long throws and corners did he head away?

00:33He was absolutely outstanding.

00:34Coventry was so much more direct than I thought they were going to be.

00:37And whether Labriece anticipated that or what, I don't know.

00:39But someone needed Ballard.

00:41And then he went with Meender and Isidore.

00:42It wasn't particularly attacking because they were both pretty much

00:45on the edge of their own box for much of the game.

00:47But it gave someone a better kind of attacking threat.

00:49And it wasn't pretty, but it was the right way to play.

00:52And they've got the rewards in the end.

00:53You probably can't hear us because there's certain Mr. Kevin Phillips,

00:57so he's on Sky Sports Pundit and Jiggies.

00:59He's getting serenaded by the sun on the way.

01:01And it was a brilliant display in the half, I thought, from Sunderland Field.

01:05They set up with a clear game plan.

01:07It clearly worked.

01:07It was to hit Coventry on the break.

01:10And they just executed it very calmly, very precisely.

01:12It's obviously not over.

01:13There's another 90 minutes to go.

01:15But it's advantage of Sunderland.

01:16Listen, it's a long way from over.

01:18And we shouldn't underestimate Coventry.

01:20I think when there's a bit more space at the Stadium of Light,

01:23they've got a lot of players who can hurt you on the break.

01:25The game's a long way from over.

01:26I think that's clear.

01:27But I think, you know, when you look at Coventry's home record of late,

01:30if you look at Sunderland's record of late,

01:31the way they approached you was spot on, really.

01:33It wasn't particularly pretty.

01:35But it was never going to be a game where they dominated the ball.

01:38And if you think back to what the performance they produced here in March,

01:40I mean, this was absolutely a world away from that.

01:43I thought the organisation, the discipline.

01:45At the end of the day, like, Coventry haven't had a lot of shots.

01:47It did feel nervy because the ball was just coming back into the box.

01:51But, you know, had you right, I can't really remember having them a shot.

01:54So, it's a long, long way from over.

01:55I actually think Coventry will be a real threat on the break.

01:58They'll come up.

01:58I think they've got nothing to lose now.

02:00You know, there's a lot of work to be done.

02:02But in terms of just taking this 90 minutes,

02:04this was about taking something back to the Stadium of Light.

02:06And to be honest, I didn't always think Sunderland were going to win the game.

02:10But they never, ever looked like they were going to come back out of this tie.

02:13And to that way, you have to carry it with the brief.

02:15Ends all the fair as well.

02:16The ball for Wilson Isidore's opening goal.

02:18I mean, he's a good player, isn't he?

02:21He played off the left today, but that was one of the times he drifted in the middle.

02:24And boy, did he show us quality there.

02:26I thought we were kind of daring to dream it might happen, really,

02:28in terms of we knew that he wasn't going to see loads of the ball out on the left.

02:32We knew he wasn't going to sort of run the game.

02:33You're just hoping he gets that one opportunity to pick a pass.

02:37And, you know, he picked his moment brilliantly.

02:39And actually, although it was a defensive error, from the end of his goal,

02:43obviously the back pass straight into his path.

02:45It was Lefeu who did really well to get up the pitch.

02:47That was a Sunderland clearance.

02:48Lefeu got up the pitch, put a bit of pressure on.

02:50I think that summed up something.

02:51I thought Patrick Roberts on the other side doesn't look like a Spartan performance.

02:54But actually, he got through so much run in the sport trade game.

02:57Every player put the team first today.

02:59Yeah, absolutely.

03:00No matter what position they were in.

03:01And that's what we saw in the first half of the season, that togetherness.

03:04And credit to something.

03:05Deflick the switch.

03:06Deflick the switch.

03:07Well, they didn't quite flick a switch, did they?

03:08Because, like, you know, it wasn't exactly like some of the most free-flowing football.

03:13And actually, at times, they struggled to build the counters in the way we used to.

03:16But in terms of the intensity and the organisation togetherness,

03:18they certainly flicked that switch.

03:20A lot of way to go.

03:21But, you know, because it's been so long since we've won here

03:22and some of the afternoons we've had here every 10 years,

03:25we absolutely should enjoy it, for sure.

03:26And this now becomes one of Sunderland's biggest games in recent memory,

03:31really, given the stage, what's on the line.

03:32Given it's the second leg of a playoff semi-final in the second tier,

03:36it's huge.

03:38It's a massive game, really.

03:39It's so strange, isn't it?

03:40Because we've been through this weird sort of almost purgatory period

03:42for about a month.

03:43All of a sudden, these huge games have just come round.

03:46And I think credit to Sunderland for kind of rising to the occasion

03:48and being ready for it.

03:50Yeah, it was a special night tonight.

03:52Nothing's done.

03:53You know, there's still an awful lot of work to do.

03:55But, yeah, it was a great night.

03:57And credit to these places.

03:59The away fans are still going.

04:00This is a night they'll never forget.

04:01I'm really distracted because I'm just thinking

04:04I would really love to be in that away end right now.

04:06Just one more point before we finish.

04:07It's a big error from the Coventry defender for the second goal.

04:10But every single touch of my eyes on the end is perfect.

04:13Every single touch is perfectly weighted.

04:15He is a player.

04:16It's absolutely tremendous.

04:17Really good.

04:17There's loads of stuff over on websites, podcasts,

04:20all that sort of stuff.

04:21But check in with us at some point.

04:23I'm sure we'll keep you up with it.

04:24It's the worst outro of all time.

04:25But I think they've got the idea.

04:26My head's on Jupiter here.

04:28Everyone stay calm.

04:29In the best possible way.

04:30Everyone stay calm.

04:30James, stay calm.

04:31It's only half time.

04:33Well, a half it was.

04:33Thank's watch.

04:37We'll see you in the next one.

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