Sunderland's Anthony Patterson has a big future ahead of him as he continues to make his mark in his first season of senior football. That's the view of Black Cats boss Alex Neil, who praised the academy graduate goalkeeper after his crucial second-half save proved to be one of the defining moments that helped his side take all three points against play-off rivals Oxford United at the weekend.
Patterson produced two fine stops at the Kassam Stadium, one of which was an acrobatic save to tip a shot from Mark Sykes away from the top corner early in the game. But it was the save he made from Ciaron Brown midway through the second half that earned him praise from Neil, with the 21-year-old showing excellent reflexes to stop the Oxford's man's close-range header on the line when it seemed he must score to put the hosts 2-1 in front.
Instead, Patterson kept the scores level and that set the stage for Elliot Embleton to score an 89th minute winner. Neil said of his keeper: "Patto doesn't say much. He's extremely quiet.
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"What he is, though, is an extremely good shotstopper. The first one [from Sykes] I would expect him to get there, the shot came from distance, he could see it the full way, albeit he is agile enough to get across, but his second save, in particular, was a great save.
"These games against teams at the top end of the division are going to be defined by key moments, and that was a key moment and he made the difference for us. We had a key moment [in the Oxford penalty area for Embleton's goal] and that made the difference, too.
"That's the difference between winning and losing at this level. How often do we see it where you play really well, concede one chance, and lose the game?
"It's happened to us since I've been here. Thankfully, we found ourselves on the right side of it on Saturday.
"Anthony is only a young kid, so he has a lot ahead of him. This is his first season at this level, as it is for quite a few of the young players, so to be competing where we are and carry the burden that comes with playing for such a massive club as Sunderland and the expectation that comes with that, and perform at the same time, you need to be made of stern stuff, and thankfully our young lads are."
Patterson made his senior debut in the EFL Trophy last season, but only made his League debut back in August when he stood in for the injured Lee Burge early in the campaign. Thorben Hoffmann's arrival at the end of August saw the German installed as first choice, and it meant that Patterson was allowed to join National League Notts County on loan in September.
He impressed at Meadow Lane and was due to spend the rest of the season there, but when a Covid outbreak at the beginning of January left both Hoffmann and Burge sidelined, he was recalled to Wearside. Patterson made a couple of appearances before Hoffmann reclaimed his place at the end of January, but with Burge still out of action and Hoffmann briefly needing to take time out to undergo further tests, Patterson came back into the side in February and has kept his place ever since.
Sunderland's win at Oxford lifted them back into the top six, and their play-off challenge continues on Friday when Shrewsbury Town visit the Stadium of Light.
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