How did the players fare in Sunderland's 1-0 defeat to Oldham?
SUNDERLAND (3-4-1-2):
6 Burge: Made a couple of routine saves and almost created some late excitement when he came close to getting his head to a corner
7 YOUNGER: Arguably the only one of Sunderland’s youngsters to have enhanced his reputation – defended solidly throughout
6 Xhemajli: Showed some understandable signs of rustiness, but it great just to see him back on the field
6 Alves: Made a couple of important interceptions, but hasn’t quite developed into the player he looked like he might be in the early weeks of the season
6 Dajaku: Made a couple of useful breaks down the right, but was taken off at the break in order to rest before the weekend
5 Wilding: Fairly anonymous in his midfield role, with Oldham’s creative players tending to play around him
5 O’Brien: Was dropped back into a deeper-lying central midfield position and didn’t look especially comfortable in the role
4 Dunne: Had a difficult evening as Oldham poured forward down the right - it was his error that led to Vaughan’s goal
5 Embleton: Skippered the side, although his impact in the final third was minimal before he was substituted at half-time
4 Kimpioka: Fired an early effort into the side-netting and never really improved from there – might well be running out of chances
5 Harris: Came close with a second-half shot that was turned behind and displayed brief signs of attacking promise
Subs:
4 Kachosa (for Dajaku, 46): Wasn’t really able to influence the game from his wide position in the second half
5 Wearne (for Embleton, 46): Is highly rated within Sunderland’s coaching set-up, but wasn’t a factor in the second half
Dyce (for Dunne, 72)
(not used): Carney (gk), Almond, Scott, Johnson.
OLDHAM (4-2-3-1):
Leutwiler 7; ADAMS 8, Clarke 7, Piergianni 7, Couto 6; Cisse 7 (Hopcutt 79), Whelan 6 (Bowden 79); Stobbs 8 (Dearnley 58, 5), Vaughan 7 (Diarra 64, 6), Keillor-Dunn 6; Hope 6 (Bahamboula 79).
Subs (not used): Southerington (gk), McGahey.
Man Of The Match: NICKY ADAMS – Oldham’s right-back was rock-solid defensively and caused a succession of problems as he bombed forward on the overlap.
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