Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips was full or praise for the Black Cats performance against Sheffield United. Dan Neil's first-half sending off meant Alex Neil's side were forced to play just under an hour with ten men against one of the best sides in the Championship.
The Black Cats conceded soon after the midfielder's dismissal and then were two goals down not long after the second-half restart. Lynden Gooch halved the deficit with a great finish just before the hour mark, but the Wearsider's could not find an equaliser despite their best efforts.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Phillips said: "They tried to force the mistake with runners as Alex [Neil] said. He speaks so well and it's a fantastic finish from Lynden Gooch. They had two banks of four and just prayed on the loose ball.
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"Matete reads it and the position of Gooch, he doesn't stand still and when you're 2-0 down you need runners. There's no point just keeping the ball when you need a goal and they responded well when they went 4-4-1. They get the goal and they're right back in the game.
"It's just a shame they conceded do early in the second-half. Alex said they were disappointed to concede that early and they had a mountain to climb. The response was incredible.
"It's the reaction now they've lost a game. They'll be fine now Sunderland, they've got enough quality in that squad, determination, grit, honesty to win football matches."
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