Sutton Shock Leeds To Set Up Arsenal Tie
- Johnnie Lowery
- Jan 31, 2017
- 2 min read
Sunday saw one of the finest moments in the history of Sutton United as Paul Doswell’s men secured a well-deserved victory against Leeds United, setting up a tie with Arsenal in the next round.
The team currently placed 4th in the Championship in truth never really troubled Sutton, and there can be few complaints from the visitors. There was controversy early in the game as Biamou touched the ball on to Roarie Deacon who did his job and smashed the ball home. With celebrations already starting a late flag from the linesman denied the U’s their moment of glory – TV replays suggesting it was tight but Deacon had stayed level with the defender. Leeds keeper Silvestri had an excellent game, and had to be on hand about 20 minutes in to deny Roarie Deacon a spectacular goal from outside the box. The Italian had to make a similar save from the same player not long after as well. With the home side on top and backed by a vociferous crowd there was an opportunity for Bedsente Gomis as well, his effort stabbed into the grateful arms of Silvestri. Up the other end Ross Worner had to be alert to deny Stuart Dallas who couldn’t get enough on his chip to threaten the U’s goal.
The deadlock was broken early on in the second half after Max Biamou, in his typical hard working manner, chased what seemed a lost cause and engineered a mishap in the Leeds defence, prompting a foul by Coyle on Roarie Deacon. Captain Jamie Collins stepped up to take the penalty, as cool as anything, and placed the ball perfectly in the bottom right corner sending the keeper the wrong way. Whilst Sutton’s attacking intent was understandably reduced following the goal they were defending never came under intense pressure, though Worner was called into action once and did well to hold a skidding effort from Matt Grimes. The task was made slightly easier for Sutton in the 82nd minute as Liam Cooper was shown a second booking for bringing down Craig Eastmond as he moved into a dangerous position. With four minutes added on there was potential for some nervous moments but the game was professionally seen out to secure one of the greatest moments in the illustrious history of Sutton United Football Club
Manager Paul Doswell was understandably delighted:
“It’s a surreal experience”
“We always felt that if we could one get in front that with our shape we could defend it ok – I don’t want to come across as arrogant but it was a relatively comfortable game for us”
“I think the biggest thing for me today was that there were 5000 Sutton United fans in the ground today, and are they going to come back and watch this great team?”
“The whole point of these runs is that people will feel attached to it…you need to come back and keep coming to the club because we’re trying to turn it into the hub of the community and I think we deserve people not just coming to the big games, but coming regularly”