Phil Smith and James Copley deliver their verdict as Sunderland beat Coventry City in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi final
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00:00Hello, welcome to the CBS Arena.
00:02Some have just recorded their first win at Coventry City in 40 years.
00:062-1 goals from Wilson Easton and Eliza Mayender.
00:10Wow.
00:11What were we worried about?
00:12What were we worried about?
00:13Fill your thoughts.
00:14Yeah, I think the first thing to say is that I think a lot of credit to Labriece
00:18because he made two big calls today.
00:20And I'm not just saying it because some of them won the game.
00:22In the context of the whole game, they were the right ones.
00:25Bam Ballard was immense.
00:26That's one of the best individuals in the performances I've seen,
00:28and not just a season by a long time.
00:30How many long throws and corners did he head away?
00:33He was absolutely outstanding.
00:34Coventry was so much more direct than I thought they were going to be.
00:37And whether Labriece anticipated that or what, I don't know.
00:39But someone needed Ballard.
00:41And then he went with Meender and Isidore.
00:42It wasn't particularly attacking because they were both pretty much
00:45on the edge of their own box for much of the game.
00:47But it gave someone a better kind of attacking threat.
00:49And it wasn't pretty, but it was the right way to play.
00:52And they've got the rewards in the end.
00:53You probably can't hear us because there's certain Mr. Kevin Phillips,
00:57so he's on Sky Sports Pundit and Jiggies.
00:59He's getting serenaded by the sun on the way.
01:01And it was a brilliant display in the half, I thought, from Sunderland Field.
01:05They set up with a clear game plan.
01:07It clearly worked.
01:07It was to hit Coventry on the break.
01:10And they just executed it very calmly, very precisely.
01:12It's obviously not over.
01:13There's another 90 minutes to go.
01:15But it's advantage of Sunderland.
01:16Listen, it's a long way from over.
01:18And we shouldn't underestimate Coventry.
01:20I think when there's a bit more space at the Stadium of Light,
01:23they've got a lot of players who can hurt you on the break.
01:25The game's a long way from over.
01:26I think that's clear.
01:27But I think, you know, when you look at Coventry's home record of late,
01:30if you look at Sunderland's record of late,
01:31the way they approached you was spot on, really.
01:33It wasn't particularly pretty.
01:35But it was never going to be a game where they dominated the ball.
01:38And if you think back to what the performance they produced here in March,
01:40I mean, this was absolutely a world away from that.
01:43I thought the organisation, the discipline.
01:45At the end of the day, like, Coventry haven't had a lot of shots.
01:47It did feel nervy because the ball was just coming back into the box.
01:51But, you know, had you right, I can't really remember having them a shot.
01:54So, it's a long, long way from over.
01:55I actually think Coventry will be a real threat on the break.
01:58They'll come up.
01:58I think they've got nothing to lose now.
02:00You know, there's a lot of work to be done.
02:02But in terms of just taking this 90 minutes,
02:04this was about taking something back to the Stadium of Light.
02:06And to be honest, I didn't always think Sunderland were going to win the game.
02:10But they never, ever looked like they were going to come back out of this tie.
02:13And to that way, you have to carry it with the brief.
02:15Ends all the fair as well.
02:16The ball for Wilson Isidore's opening goal.
02:18I mean, he's a good player, isn't he?
02:21He played off the left today, but that was one of the times he drifted in the middle.
02:24And boy, did he show us quality there.
02:26I thought we were kind of daring to dream it might happen, really,
02:28in terms of we knew that he wasn't going to see loads of the ball out on the left.
02:32We knew he wasn't going to sort of run the game.
02:33You're just hoping he gets that one opportunity to pick a pass.
02:37And, you know, he picked his moment brilliantly.
02:39And actually, although it was a defensive error, from the end of his goal,
02:43obviously the back pass straight into his path.
02:45It was Lefeu who did really well to get up the pitch.
02:47That was a Sunderland clearance.
02:48Lefeu got up the pitch, put a bit of pressure on.
02:50I think that summed up something.
02:51I thought Patrick Roberts on the other side doesn't look like a Spartan performance.
02:54But actually, he got through so much run in the sport trade game.
02:57Every player put the team first today.
02:59Yeah, absolutely.
03:00No matter what position they were in.
03:01And that's what we saw in the first half of the season, that togetherness.
03:04And credit to something.
03:05Deflick the switch.
03:06Deflick the switch.
03:07Well, they didn't quite flick a switch, did they?
03:08Because, like, you know, it wasn't exactly like some of the most free-flowing football.
03:13And actually, at times, they struggled to build the counters in the way we used to.
03:16But in terms of the intensity and the organisation togetherness,
03:18they certainly flicked that switch.
03:20A lot of way to go.
03:21But, you know, because it's been so long since we've won here
03:22and some of the afternoons we've had here every 10 years,
03:25we absolutely should enjoy it, for sure.
03:26And this now becomes one of Sunderland's biggest games in recent memory,
03:31really, given the stage, what's on the line.
03:32Given it's the second leg of a playoff semi-final in the second tier,
03:36it's huge.
03:38It's a massive game, really.
03:39It's so strange, isn't it?
03:40Because we've been through this weird sort of almost purgatory period
03:42for about a month.
03:43All of a sudden, these huge games have just come round.
03:46And I think credit to Sunderland for kind of rising to the occasion
03:48and being ready for it.
03:50Yeah, it was a special night tonight.
03:52Nothing's done.
03:53You know, there's still an awful lot of work to do.
03:55But, yeah, it was a great night.
03:57And credit to these places.
03:59The away fans are still going.
04:00This is a night they'll never forget.
04:01I'm really distracted because I'm just thinking
04:04I would really love to be in that away end right now.
04:06Just one more point before we finish.
04:07It's a big error from the Coventry defender for the second goal.
04:10But every single touch of my eyes on the end is perfect.
04:13Every single touch is perfectly weighted.
04:15He is a player.
04:16It's absolutely tremendous.
04:17Really good.
04:17There's loads of stuff over on websites, podcasts,
04:20all that sort of stuff.
04:21But check in with us at some point.
04:23I'm sure we'll keep you up with it.
04:24It's the worst outro of all time.
04:25But I think they've got the idea.
04:26My head's on Jupiter here.
04:28Everyone stay calm.
04:29In the best possible way.
04:30Everyone stay calm.
04:30James, stay calm.
04:31It's only half time.
04:33Well, a half it was.
04:33Thank's watch.
04:37We'll see you in the next one.