Sunderland (Home) 04.01.2026

It was a bitterly cold day in North London with a sizeable number of Sunderland fans having made the long trek south.  Spurs kicked off and a ball forward in the first 20 seconds of the match from Cristian Romero almost got Richarlison in, but a defender just got a toe to it to take it back to keeper Roefs and when the ball dropped for Mathys Tel with one minute gone, he let go a shot that was straight down Roefs’ throat, but signalled the claim that Frank made before the game that we would start on the front foot.  Tottenham’s pressing and aggressive reading of play caused a high number of turnovers in the first ten minutes including an attempted shot over Roefs, who had strayed off his goal-line, but Pedro Porro’s 30 yard effort went too high and wide.  When Wilson Odobert blocked a pass at close quarters, it bobbled towards Richi, who struck a low shot through Mukiele’s legs, but it lacked any power behind it, then the Brazilian just failed to get on the end of Porro’s cross to the far post because Mukiele got a touch that took it away from our number 9.

When Mo Kudus went down with 16 minutes gone, it took a lot of attention from the physios before it was decided he couldn’t carry on and had to go off, with Randal Kolo Muani replacing him.  Sunderland won a corner and there was alight-hearted moment when Xhaka, who had been booed through the early stages of the game, went to take it and slipped over as he approached the ball.  After 25 minutes, a long driven ball forward from a Porro free-kick picked out Richi and it worked across the front line from right to left and Tel tried to shape a shot back into the other side of the goal but put it too far wide of the post. 

Wilson did well to win a corner down the left and Mathys took it, playing the ball beyond the far post.  Romero was there and had time to take the ball down on his chest and pull it back for Micky van de Ven just outside the six-yard box and his shot was stroked into the net from the middle of the goal by Ben Davies.  There was so much time and space for the Spurs players that it would have been a crime not to score, but Ben was on the spot to put it in from a few yards out.  He’s deadly from that range. 

Romero had played a couple of lazy passes; one that put Spurs on the back foot in their own half and another that sold Randal short.  Kolo Muani challenged for a high ball forward and it fell for Odobert, whose first time shot was way too high.  Hume tried to spark Sunderland into action with a couple of shots with one being blocked and the other driven hard but a couple of feet over the top.  Micky made a well-timed challenge on Mukiele just outside the area as the opposition enjoyed some time in the Tottenham half. When Odobert nicked the ball in our own half, he released Randal on the right and his cross picked out Richarlison at the far post.  Going for a scissor kick volley, he got it a little wrong and the ball went wide of the far post.  When Kolo Muani was running with the ball, it looked like the heavily watered pitch was slowing it down rather than making it faster.

Sunderland kicked off the second half and a lobbed ball into the box was headed at goal by Mayenda resulting in what was a fairly straightforward save for Vic as the header was downwards, but weak.  With Cirkin already having been booked after the break for pulling back Richi by his arm, Wilson Odobert’s pass off his chest was putting the Brazilian striker away into the Sunderland half from the halfway line until Alderete hauled him back with two hands.  Another booking and only saved from being a red because of the distance from goal and the fact that there were covering players.

In the 50th minute Adringa played a cross from the left that looked as though it was going out, but Hume got around the back to head back into the six yard box, where Ben Davies had to clear from in front of goal before it got to Brobbey.  The ball went up into the air and when Vicario came to claim it, Mayenda hit him with a flying cross press (that’s an old fashioned wrestling move) but Attwell didn’t see this as a foul !  Play went on and luckily, it was with Tottenham on the ball and it was moved to the other end, where we won a corner.  Porro’s outswinger was met by van de Ven’s head but he was 12 yards out and Roefs took it comfortably.

Having brought down a forward pass on his chest on halfway, Cristian then hit a miscued volley intended to go across the pitch, but ending up going back towards his own goal and into the path of Brobbey.  He exchanged passes with Mayenda and the centre-forward drilled a shot at goal that hit the side-netting, apparently coming off Davies’ challenge.  It was a sloppy moment by Romero that almost cost Spurs.  From the corner, Richi headed the ball away, as he did so often during the game and then suddenly he was breaking away on the right, but his ball into the middle of the goal was blocked with Archie Gray arriving and Randal behind him. 

Former Spurs Romaine Mundle replaced former Spur Dennis Cirkin as Spurs seized on a loose pass out by the keeper, with Porro firing in a low cross that Roefs fumbled and was lucky it didn’t rebound back off the Sunderland defenders in front of him.

Bentancur made a good sliding tackle to block le Fee at the expense of a corner, which Vic punched away to the far side of the box and Adringa had space on the edge of the box but curled it wide of the right hand post of Vicario’s goal.  Sunderland threw on Ballard indicating that they were keen to lump high balls into the box. When one was cleared Mundle was a little loose with his elbow that ended up in Odobert’s face, but Porro broke away, picking out a pass over the last defender to switch it left, but Randal Kolo Muani couldn’t bring it under control and when he made a yard to shoot from a tight angle, he hit the side-netting.  Wilson left the play with Archie Gray with Lucas Bergvall and Joao Palhinha coming off the bench.

Ballard then caught Richi with an elbow and then Brobbey thought Pedro dived after a tackle, so when Porro ran past him, the Sunderland striker grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, but the ref didn’t feel it was even worthy of a booking.  The visitors were getting some impetus into their play and in the 80th minute, a cross from the right saw le Fee steal in at the near post to put in a firm header that bounced behind off the foot of Vicario’s left hand post.  It was a let off for Spurs, but one that didn’t last for long.  Mukiele started the move with the ball on the right, played in to Brobbey.  He exchanged passes with le Fee and then smashed it past Vicario from 12 yards out with his left foot from 12 yards out.  It was a well worked goal, but the space that Sunderland were allowed was concerning.

Bentancur was then booked for a foul on Brobbey before the away team went forward, got a lucky bounce and then Hume struck a shot from the edge of the box that Guglielmo had to push over the bar.  Spurs broke away with Tel breaking down the left, until Mukiele moved towards him and thrust his hand into his face without even a free-kick given.  Then Attwell stopped play for a head injury, which was a mystery as to how that arose if it wasn’t a foul.  Mukiele then bent over Tel and had words, while Bentancur and Brobbey were having a go at each other and having to be pulled back.  Tel didn’t get any treatment, but when the game started he had to leave the field while Sunderland had the ball dropped for them.

A last throw of the dice by Thomas Frank was made with a couple of minutes left with Djed Spence replacing Ben Davies and Dane Scarlett making it onto the pitch for Mathys Tel.  It seemed to sharpen up Tottenham’s pay and when we were pushing on, Lucas shaped to take a long throw, but his hand slipped on the ball and it dropped a couple of feet in front of him  It was a freezing cold day, so you couldn’t blame him but some people around me did.  Porro then put in a good cross to the heart of the penalty area that was glanced wide of the far post by Palhinha’s head.  Joao then got booked when he brought down Geertruida as he pounced on a loose ball and looked to go forward.  The free-kick was lumped forward, Spurs cleared and the final whistle went.

That didn’t prevent Bentancur and Geertruida continuing their argument with players again pulling them away from each other.  It was a standard Attwell performance, with parts of the game going on without the players or the fans knowing what was going on due to his erratic refereeing.  It is shocking that elbows are seen to go unpunished when Romero got a second yellow a couple of weeks before for a retaliatory kick out at Konate that he made a lot of.  It was a stupid thing for our captain to have done in the Liverpool match, but which is more dangerous in the greater scheme of things ?  This is what infuriates supporters when potential dangerous challenges are allowed to be let go while a yellow card for a shirt pull is punished wherever it occurs on the pitch.

Maybe we should have killed the game off in the first half, when we were on top, but after the substitutions of Gray and Odobert, the team seemed to drop deeper and neither Lucas not Joao had much effect on the game.  Sunderland hit the post, brought a good save out of Vicario and had one effort cleared off the line in the last 15 minutes of the game.  Not exhilarating stuff, but five points from three games within a week isn’t a bad return when we are not playing well.  It would have been great to get nine, but we’re not at the stage where we are dominating teams at the moment and therefore, however painful, it is where we are at the moment.  Hopefully progress will come over the remaining matches as the boos at the end hopefully were ones of frustration with the result or the officiating rather than aimed at the players.

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