Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia may be far more mild-mannered than his predecessor Roy Keane, but that didn’t stop him slamming his side after their 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
Saturday’s stalemate at the Stadium of Light left both sides five points clear of the relegation zone.
Sunderland were on the brink of achieving a win when Robbie Keane scored an 89th-minute goal to extend Tottenham’s timely unbeaten run to four games.
It was a goal that exposed Sunderland’s players to the angry side of Sbragia, who was unhappy at the way the Black Cats approached the game after taking a third-minute lead through Kieran Richardson.
“We went one up, then sat back let them dominate the tempo,” Sbragia said. “It’s the same old story — 1-0 up after 89 minutes and we started to lose our discipline. George McCartney is our left-back and is supposed to defend, but for some reason he was in their box in the 89th minute and that’s the position where their goal has come from.”
Even Richardson’s goal failed to shield him from Sbragia’s ire. The midfielder collected his 10th yellow card of the season and now faces another suspension.
“He was running around like a headless chicken and trying to get booked,” Sbragia said.
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