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from them. Fletcher had a weak shot that Pantelimon dealt with easily and that was about all he did while we had a couple of decent moves that broke down when the linesman flagged for offside, rightly. With thirteen minutes to go Catts went off and was replaced by Giaccherini while Silva came on for them. Solano got the first booking of the game five minutes later. We'd lost our rhythm by that stage and instead of lots of nice passes we were just booting it upfield high into the air where we won nothing against the City defence. Fletcher fluffed a really good opportunity right near the end when he didn't control the ball on the right of their box and allowed it to bounce off his knee for a goal-kick. In the final minute we went 3-1 down and it was another good goal, from the neutral's point of view. We were pressing and were appealing for a free-kick on the edge of their box when City broke away four against two. Navas received the ball on the right angle of our box and sent a shot just inside the right post. At that moment a lot of our fans left the pub but I stayed to the end and there was a big chant of 'I'm Sunderland Till I Die' as the whistle went.
It was disappointing, no doubt, especially after we'd taken the lead with a great goal but we lost to a better side who produced three quality goals. No disgrace there. Here's to out next Wembley campaign next weekend.
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