Sunderland battle back to draw but miss out on top spot

Posted Sunday, November 18, 2018 by PA

Sunderland wasted a chance to climb to the top of League One by only managing to draw 1-1 with Wycombe at the Stadium of Light.

Wycombe, sitting in the bottom half of the table, caused problems and got their reward when winger Fred Onyedinma struck the opener in the 67th minute.

But substitute Josh Maja struck his 11th goal of the season with five minutes left to at least seal a point, even if it meant Sunderland’s eight-match winning run came to an end.

Had Chairboys skipper Adam El-Abd converted Joe Jacobson’s corner then they would have been ahead earlier. But Sunderland wasted a couple of late chances before the break too.

Irish winger Aidan McGeady, the pick of the players on the day, was almost rewarded for a performance of intent with the opener but he rolled an effort wide when he got free of his marker in the area.

Other than that there was very little for either goalkeeper to deal with until a routine ball into the Sunderland area was not dealt with and Onyedinma controlled and then powered a finish high inside Jon McLaughlin’s net from 14 yards to stun the Wearside crowd.

Sunderland pulled it back when Maja controlled a lovely pass from George Honeyman to prevent a frustrating home defeat.