Lynden Gooch produced arguably his best performance in a Sunderland shirt with boss Alex Neil praising his crossing as 'top notch' in the Black Cats' emphatic win against Cambridge United. Gooch provided two assists in the 5-1 victory - one for Ross Stewart and the other for Nathan Broadhead - and could have ended up with four or five had Sunderland been able to find finishes that matched the quality of his deliveries into the box.
Neil said it was Gooch's best display since he took over in February, but in reality it was as good an all-round game as the 26-year-old academy product has had for the club. Gooch has at times been criticised by supporters for his inconsistency, but his performance against Cambridge did not go unnoticed by the fans at the Stadium of Light.
"I was really pleased with him," said Neil. "I think that was the best that Goochy has played since I've been here.
READ MORE: Alex Neil hails Sunderland's best performance since he took over in five-star Cambridge victory
"The instruction to him was really clear: get down the outside and put early balls in and his quality yesterday was really top-notch. The one thing I will say about Goochy is that he works his socks off every single day.
"You talk about people wearing their heart on their sleeve for this club, and he is right up there. I don't think anyone internally at the club would have any doubts about Goochy.
"He's a warrior and he's desperate to do well here."
Gooch played as the right wingback in a 3-5-2 system, but he spent the vast majority of his time on the attack against a Cambridge side that played for more than 75 minutes with ten men after Lloyd Jones was sent off for hauling down Stewart inside the penalty area, in the process conceding the spot-kick that set Sunderland on their way. Neil said: "It's a good feeling when you're supplying good quality, you're playing well, and your team is on top.
"If you take the 90 minutes-plus, we attacked for probably 89 minutes of it so there wasn't a lot of defensive work to be done so, for a forward player like Goochy, it was a dream."
Sunderland's win saw them climb to fourth in the table, ahead of fifth-placed Plymouth on goals scored, and ahead of sixth-placed Wycombe on goal difference, and they still have a game in hand of both those sides. The Black Cats have two more games remaining, with automatic promotion contenders Rotherham due on Wearside on Tuesday night, before Sunderland head to relegation-threatened Morecambe on the final day next Saturday.
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