Chris Coleman: Sunderland shot themselves in the foot against Norwich

Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2018 by PA

Chris Coleman admits his Sunderland side were their own worst enemies as they conceded an 89th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Norwich.

With one minute remaining at the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats were heading for a victory that would have taken them to within four points of safety in the Sky Bet Championship.

However, their defenders failed to deal with James Maddison’s free-kick into the area, enabling Grant Hanley to nod the ball down for Ivan Pinto to slot home from close range.

The equaliser means Sunderland head to Reading on Saturday six points adrift of 21st-placed Bolton with just four games remaining.

The Sunderland boss said: “You’ve seen it time and time again where we don’t defend a set-play like we should. We said we had to get it right defensively, but we got it wrong with five minutes to go.

“To get to that position and give it up like we did, it’s a tough one to swallow. It’s a difficult one. The players’ energy was great, but they have to be switched on. We’ve given up two points which were absolutely critical to us.

“There have been so many moments this season that could have gone for you and you end up smiling, but that have gone against us. It’s not just tonight where that’s happened.

“It’s massively disappointing – it’s the difference of us going to Reading and knowing if we beat them the gap could be just a couple of points, but now it’s back up to six.”

An eventful evening saw Sunderland miss a first-half penalty as Aiden McGeady drilled his spot-kick against the post, only for George Honeyman to fire the home side into the lead shortly after the hour mark.

Norwich missed a host of good opportunities, and struck the woodwork twice themselves through Nelson Oliveira and Maddison.

However, they levelled with one minute left, and their manager Daniel Farke feels their refusal to throw in the towel says a lot about their character.

Farke said: “It was a pretty wild game, a bit crazy really. There were missed penalties, unbelievable chances and a late equaliser – I kept asking myself how many chances we needed to score a goal.

“We knew Sunderland were fighting for their last chance against relegation, but yet again, we have this mentality, we never accept a loss, and the hard work paid off with a late equaliser.

“Even after that we still had two more great chances.

“It is a sign of our fitness and our mentality. But it is hard to accept that we could not win although I still have a smile on my face because of the late equaliser.”