Football
10y

Gus Poyet: It was a great afternoon

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet hailed his side's performance following the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Sunday as he reflected on a "great afternoon."

- Randall: Draw a fair outcome for Sunderland
- Macintosh: Di Maria won't fix this mess

The Black Cats came from behind at the Stadium of Light, with Jack Rodwell netting the equaliser following Juan Mata's opener.

And the display left Poyet in a buoyant mood afterwards as he described it as "nearly perfect."

"I think it is a great afternoon when you don't lose against a top team, even the weather was good and everything was nearly perfect so even if we didn't win we need to be happy," he told the club's official website.

"There was a terrific atmosphere in the stadium and conceding a goal didn't affect the team or the fans at all, it was exciting to watch and we came back in the game so I was very pleased with the first half

"We had to work harder in the second but we need to understand that this is going to happen.

"You can get tired or the opposition can be better than you, but the players tried to get a result and they grabbed more points on the table so overall a very good day for us."

Rodwell's equaliser came from a corner, and Poyet revealed that his side had always planned to target their opponents from set pieces.

"The idea was to take advantage of plenty of things," he said.

"We are bigger no doubt; we have Santi [Vergini], John [O'Shea], Wes [Brown], Jack [Rodwell], Fletch [Steven Fletcher] and Connor [Wickham], so it is going to be difficult for the opposition to defend against us, especially when you have the delivery of Sebastian Larsson or Adam Johnson.

"It is part of the game but it was a great header. I have been talking to players for many years about how difficult it is for goalkeepers if you head it down, but it was the service which was great as well."

^ Back to Top ^