Habib Diarra’s penalty proved to be the difference as Sunderland progressed in the FA Cup
Oxford United boss Matt Bloomfield said he was pleased with his team’s performance against Sunderland and left frustrated that what he felt were marginal decisions went against them.
Habib Diarra’s first-half penalty proved to be the difference between the two sides, with the spotkick awarded when Dennis Cirkin was fouled in the box. Oxford did then have the ball in the back of the net in the second half when Will Lankshear ran in on goal, though the game had long been stopped with the Spurs loanee ruled to have fouled Luke O’Nien.
Bloomfield stopped short of saying either decision was wrong but felt the penalty decision was contentious.
“I’ve been told there’s two different angles for the penalty decision, one that suggests it was and one that suggests it wasn’t,” he said.
“I had a perfect view from 50 yards away – all managers say that – and all I would say is that we’re not really getting any decisions. That (the penalty call) is probably one that maybe was or maybe wasn’t. Will Lankshear’s one, when he was adjudged to have committed a foul when he was through one-on-one, was another one that maybe was or maybe wasn’t. But both calls have gone against us, which is really frustrating.”
Oxford United are fighting for Championship survival this season and Bloomfield said there were positives to take from the performance on Sunday.
"We've shown on several occasions since we've been in the building that we're a good team," Bloomfield said.
"But there's been a couple of occasions that we've let ourselves down. We have to be more consistent and we have to show that same fight and desire and energy like we did today. And if we do that, then we can come away and say that we're pleased with the performance on a more regular basis.
"You can't just expect to win games unless you perform properly. So, we performed properly today. We're disappointed to go out of the competition but now our focus goes back to Middlesbrough next Saturday."
Continue Reading