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Sunderland were back in FA Cup action at the weekend, taking a welcome break from the league as they returned to the Kassam Stadium for the first time since May to face an Oxford side who’ve struggled in the EFL this season.
With a chance to rest and rotate but the potential for a slip-up after losing there last season, how did Régis Le Bris manage the game and keep Oxford at arm’s length to ensure Sunderland were in the draw for the last sixteen?
Sunderland lineup
After suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time this season, changes were expected from Le Bris as his players put in two huge shifts against Arsenal and Liverpool — this providing a chance for some of the players who hadn’t featured much to get a full match under their belts.
Making six changes from Wednesday night’s game, he opted to retain the spine of his side whilst rewarding the remainder with a starting spot.
Omar Alderete was absent from the squad following his knock on Wednesday, whilst Dan Ballard didn’t travel either. Luke O’Nien returned to the centre of defence to partner Nordi Mukiele, Trai Hume dropped back to his usual spot at right back and Dennis Cirkin came in for Reinildo, who also didn’t travel after playing 180 minutes in five days the week earlier.
Elsewhere, Lutsharel Geertruida came in for Noah Sadiki in order to anchor the midfield, whilst Habib Diarra and Enzo Le Fée retained their places from Wednesday. In the forward line, Brian Brobbey was rested in favour of Wilson Isidor, with Chemsdine Talbi and Romaine Mundle starting on the flanks having featured off the bench in midweek.
With Oxford United switching between a back four and five in recent weeks, Le Bris could’ve been tempted to match up their shape. However, favoured his traditional 4-3-3 system with one holding midfield pivot and two more advanced supporting central midfielders.
Despite both wingers being deployed on both sides during their time at Sunderland, it was Mundle who was picked to play off the left whilst Talbi took up a spot on the right — where he started the season.
Sunderland Line-Up
Sunderland Line-Up
FOTMOB
Oxford lineup
Matt Bloomfield has had a rough time of things since taking over at the Kassam Stadium, with his side having not scored in their last four home games.
Following a midweek humbling by Norwich City, Bloomfield opted to make some changes to allow for fresh legs and therefore saw eight changes from midweek. With wholesale changes across the front four and further changes in midfield, defence and in goal, Bloomfield opted for a back four and tried to match Sunderland up in their shape.
With a similarly aggressive style of play and a reliance on physical duels that’s worked so well for Sunderland this year, Bloomfield was looking to utilise the ‘dark arts’ in order to level the playing field a little. Therefore, facing a barrage of long throws and direct attacks, Sunderland needed to be up for the fight or Oxford could’ve made things ugly.
With Spurs loanee Will Lankashear capable of causing problems for central defenders due to his sheer size and physical profile, and a midfield pairing of Will Vaulks and Cameron Brannagan, Sunderland needed to be wary of the threat posed by the home side.
Opposition Line-Up
Opposition Line-Up
FOTMOB
Sunderland settle in
The opening ten minutes set the tone for the remainder of the game as neither team was really able to put a foot on the ball and construct consistent passages of build-up play from the off.
After heavy rainfall prior to kick off, it was clear that an aerial-based affair was going to interrupt Sunderland’s usual rhythm, however, after riding out the initial storm, Sunderland were able to settle in.
Assigned as the aggressors, Sunderland enjoyed the lion’s share of possession at 54%, but with less than three hundred passes completed throughout the whole game, tit raised a rather interesting point around how long was spent motionless on the ball or with it simply out of play.
Sunderland were clearly aware of the dangers posed by teams.
We counter-attacked when defending in a low block, therefore most of the passive possession actually occurred in either the Sunderland half or the middle third of the pitch. Utilising Geertruida as a pivot allowed Oxford’s press to essentially funnel play towards O’Nien — who simply reverted back to Roefs in order to go long or simply across to the spare man to start again.
In nullifying Oxford’s ability to make crowd-pleasing tackles and instead taking regular hits to win fouls and break up the play, Sunderland were able to limit the hosts to shots from distance and their first real opportunity of note didn’t arrive until Christ Makosso was able to direct a header past the post on the stroke of half time.
Jamie Donnolly was able to force a comfortable punch from Roefs early on, but with only five attempts in the first half — producing an xG rating of 0.34 — Sunderland recorded their most comfortable first half of the season from an away defensive standpoint.
Sunderland Passing Network
Sunderland Passing Network
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Positional rotations
Under Le Bris, Sunderland’s wingers have traditionally hugged the touchline in a bid to stretch the play and provide the advanced midfielders with space to push forward and form the triangles that were so pivotal to Sunderland’s success last season in the Championship.
In this game however, both Mundle and Talbi were tasked with underlapping into the half-spaces and rotating with Le Fée and Diarra respectively in order to create passing angles and free up the two midfielders by providing space out wide for them to receive the ball without pressure.
@McLachbot
@McLachbot
Sunderland Defensive Actions Map
As each winger moved infield, they dragged their marker inside and forced double-teams from the Oxford press. The vacated space subsequently allowed both Diarra and Le Fée to ghost in and provided a creative solution, allowing them to dictate the game away from their usual positions due to midfield congestion and a tight defensive shape.
Sunderland Individual Passing
Sunderland Individual Passing
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Whilst initially done to help the central midfielders, in the second half it worked to the advantage of the wingers as Oxford were drawn to Le Fée out wide and instead created separation in the previously congested half-spaces for both Mundle and Talbi to attack on the half-turn.
Both wingers were able to spring into space at separate intervals before rifling shots off — Talbi in particular stinging the gloves of Ingram and without a great save, it would’ve nestled in the top corner.
Mundle shows his potential
Romaine Mundle has divided opinions among the Sunderland fans in recent weeks, but there’s no mistaking the impact he had on the side during his first full season following the departure of Jack Clarke in the summer of 2024.
Mundle has suffered several serious setbacks during his time on Wearside and whilst the tools and talent were clearly there, injury was always going to have an effect on the winger.
Mundle’s 25/26 Creative Actions
Mundle’s 25/26 Creative Actions
@WT_Analysis
It’s clear that Sunderland have been fair to Mundle in his recovery after rushing him back for the playoffs last season and ultimately sidelining him for longer than expected, with extended spells given to the winger whenever the club feel it’s been appropriate to do so.
As a confidence-based winger, Mundle gains a great deal from good performances and even if the calibre of the opposition was a little lower here, it was great to see him attacking the game.
He completed 12/15 dribbles (80%) — a staggering percentage to have attempted in a single game — whilst also winning 20/32 ground duels, showing that he was willing to get stuck in and really impress the travelling fans. Several mazy runs almost resulted in great goals, but the end product wasn’t quite there on the day.
With two new arrivals breathing down his neck, Mundle did a great job — both in his ability to show close control in isolated one-versus-one situations but also in his ability to buy fouls and slow the game down, winning the most fouls by any Sunderland player on the day.
Whilst he hasn’t been able to directly impact games this season in the way of goals or assists, he’s only going to get back to his best with live match practice and his performance was another example of what he’s capable of when fully fit.
A promising cameo from Jocelin Ta-Bi
After signing for Sunderland last month, Ta Bi has been slowly integrating himself into the Wearside bubble whilst recovering from an ankle injury.
The young Ivorian came on for the final ten minutes of the game and looked really lively down the right. With a clear first step, he looks to have a real burst of acceleration when attacking and he showed some really tidy close control with the ball at his feet.
Whilst advanced analytics struggle to provide much data on the youngster, he did eclipse the record set for completed dribbles within the Israeli Premier League in only half a season.
His close control against Premier League defenders might not look so impressive; however, he looked like he could be really dangerous and a huge asset when coming off the bench for Sunderland this season.
Sunderland’s Jocelin Ta Bi and Oxford United’s Ruben Roosken battle for the ball during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at Kassam Stadium, Oxford. Picture date: Sunday February 15, 2026. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
Sunderland’s Jocelin Ta Bi and Oxford United’s Ruben Roosken battle for the ball during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match at Kassam Stadium, Oxford. Picture date: Sunday February 15, 2026. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
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Back to the league — starting this weekend
With a week to rest before the Lads return home to face Fulham on Sunday, Sunderland now have a real chance to kick on with a much kinder run of fixtures over the next month and beyond.
By no means will anything be easy, but with trips to Bournemouth and Elland Road to come and visits from both Nottingham Forest and Spurs on the horizon, it’ll be a welcome change from facing the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal within the space of a week.
If Sunderland have genuine aspirations of a top ten finish this season, the upcoming run of fixtures is likely to have a huge bearing and in order to keep pace with the European-chasers, we’ll need to turn some of those away performances into points whilst converting home draws into wins.
Once the forty point mark is reached, I’m sure the cup will become a priority, but who could resist competing on both fronts?
Sunderland players form a huddle ahead of kick-off in the English Premier League football match between Sunderland and Leeds United at The Stadium of Light in Sunderland in north east England on December 28, 2025. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
Sunderland players form a huddle ahead of kick-off in the English Premier League football match between Sunderland and Leeds United at The Stadium of Light in Sunderland in north east England on December 28, 2025. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
AFP via Getty Images