Matchday Musings: Diarra Makes The Difference As Sunderland See Off Oxford!

It was an intriguing team selection from Régis Le Bris, with Dennis Cirkin, Luke O’Nien, Lutsharel Geertruida, Romaine Mundle and Wilson Isidor all starting despite seeing far less game time in the Premier League, yet on reflection, this worked quite well. 

O’Nien picked up “player of the match” from the TNT Sports team (I would’ve given it to Mundle), and maybe deservedly so, although in the first half he did have a few shaky moments against the Oxford forward line.

In the past, Mundle has proven himself to be good enough to challenge any Championship defence, and he battered the left side of Oxford defence throughout his time on the paddock. He probably deserved a goal and I’m sad he didn’t get one as it would’ve helped his confidence for sure.

He played with flair, swagger and attacking intent, and it was great to see the lad who excelled so often in our Championship season looking more like his old self.

Geertruida did a decent job in the middle of the park, doing very little wrong but keeping things ticking over, and of the lesser regulars, the only player who didn’t really shine for me was Isidor.

After we went ahead just after the half hour mark from the spot kick earned by some tricky dribbling by Cirkin inside the box, Oxford had to have more of a go but Isidor didn’t really shine by getting in behind when they had a valiant pop at us, using the pace and skills that we know he has. 

He had an early chance after being fed by Chemsdine Talbi but could only find the side netting, and although Isidor hasn’t had much football this season — which may be a factor — I think he may be somewhat disappointed that he was given this chance to show his abilities and it didn’t really come off.

Sunderland’s Premier League regulars also showed why that was the case yesterday.

Robin Roefs had very little to do but when called upon for the odd shot, high ball to gather or distribution to sort out, he did very well. Trai Hume was strong both in defence and in building attacks from midfield, and stung the gloves of the Oxford goalkeeper around the hour mark.

In midfield, Habib Diarra bossed the middle of the park very well at times, and showed the coolness we needed when presented with a penalty which he scored with aplomb and that ultimately led to our win.

With Enzo Le Fée and Talbi pirouetting and driving around Diarra, the creative engine worked quite well, although better after the goal and in the second half than before that. The first twenty minutes weren’t great, with our passing being too slow and the class not really showing between the sides, but the Lads and the substitutes who came on got the job done. 

I’m sure the head coach will be reviewing that game and considering who did enough to influence his choice of starting eleven for the Fulham game, and what about Jocelin Ta Bi?

I thought his cameo was very promising and although it was against a tired Oxford side, the close control, skill and pace he demonstrated gave the fans a clue as to why we grabbed the chance to take this lad from Israel and decided to invest in his future. 

For some time we’ve really struggled with making good ground and creating changes out wide, especially on the right and with Bertrand Traoré injured for a number of weeks. 

If this lad can continue to impress the coaching staff, I see no reason why he can’t get more minutes in the team — including in the Premier League this season. He’s a young prospect with a lot of promise and if he can grow into a star of the future, he has to start some time. Why not now, or at least very soon?

While Oxford are languishing in the bottom two of the Championship with only Sheffield Wednesday to look down on in terms of league position, they put in a sturdy fight at the Kassam and probably deserved not to lose by more than one or two goals. 

Yes, perhaps we should’ve taken more from the seventeen shots (nine on target) that we created, but credit has to go to Oxford for how they blocked and battled in a way that defied their present league position and which stopped us from putting the game beyond doubt earlier.

The referee was poor for both sides and the TNT commentary team made a lot of the Le Fée yellow when it was nothing more than that for me. Mayenda took a kick somewhere in between his family jewels and his solar plexus just inside the ninety-minute mark, and didn’t even get a free kick!

It wasn’t great officiating but it was balanced pretty well in terms of poor decisions. Not a great advert for FA Cup refereeing but the man in black didn’t change anything major for me.

Yes, there were a few decisions for the Oxford fans which could’ve gone the other way, but there were a few that went the other way too.

The penalty was a penalty; we massively outperformed Oxford, we rested a few of the lads and took on no new injuries, and we deserved our place in the last sixteen for tomorrow evening’s draw.

In my view, we now move on and give this cup a real pop. Our survival in the league looks highly likely, so why not have a go at the FA Cup and a top eight finish?

Stranger things have happened.