Sunday 28 December 2014 19:04, UK
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet believes his side missed a great opportunity to record a much needed win against Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Black Cats have now not beaten Villa in seven attempts in the Premier League after the 0-0 draw in which they faced 10-men for most of the second half following Fabian Delph’s red card.
And after watching Connor Wickham, Adam Johnson and Jordi Gomez, who hit the post with a minute of normal time remaining, all go close to opening the scoring, Poyet cannot believe his side did not score.
“It’s a massive opportunity missed. We lost a great chance to win the game, “ he told Sky Sports.
“The game started as we predicted with Aston Villa very brave on the ball and coming forward. We needed to cope with those first 15 to 20 minutes. As soon as we got the ball down and started playing, getting them to go the other way it became a very good game with both teams trying to win.
“Obviously the key moment is the sending off. After that I cannot see how we didn’t score.”
Sunderland, who were forced into making two changes through injuries to Liam Bridcutt and Seb Larsson, pushed forward during the second-half to try to make their numerical advantage count.
Poyet threw on Will Buckley for the last 12 minutes but wished he could have made a few more changes as his side attempted to win the game.
“Manager’s dream about having the chance to change something when the opposition go down to 10 but we made two changes because of two injuries so we only had one player which we tried to use at the end,” he added.
“We took off a full-back and went with a winger. We tried. We’re still some way away from what I want really but we tried everything.
“It wasn’t to be but unfortunately this is what we are at the moment, another draw.”
The turning point in the game was Fabian Delph’s red card for a studs-up challenge on Jordi Gomez early in the second half.
While Poyet believes referee Martin Atkinson was right to award a straight red, he does not want to see Delph change his high-energy game.
“I didn’t see it live. I turned completely towards the ball but I’ve seen it now and it’s a little bit dangerous,” the Sunderland boss said.
“If Jordi [Gomez] commits a little bit more it could be a bad one. Fabian Delph’s a terrific player with plenty of energy.
He’ll put his foot in and of course sometimes it’s a bit difficult. There’s nothing to regret from his point of view. It’s the way he plays and I would like him to keep playing like that.”
