Kevin Phillips makes Sunderland claim following five-goal FA Cup thriller v Fulham | OneFootball

Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips felt the club were excellent in their FA Cup fourth round replay defeat at the hands of Fulham last night and has claimed that they can count themselves unlucky to have been knocked out of the competition.

In a five-goal thriller at the Stadium of Light, the Black Cats ran out 3-2 losers on the night.

Reflecting on his former side’s appearance, though, Phillips believes there was plenty of positives to take from the defeat.

“I think it’s every performance that Sunderland have here. They send the supporters home generally happy.” Phillips told the BBC post-match, via ChronicleLive.

“The fans can’t moan about this evening, they’ve come up against a Premier League side. You could see the respect that Fulham showed making the substitutions at half-time, ultimately they were the difference.

“Sunderland were excellent, they created opportunities and they got themselves back in the game. The biggest thing is, you see them laying on the ground there on their knees because they believed they could get something out of the game.

“They gave it everything. They’re having a cracking season, lots of positives to take from this evening. They’ve only been marginally beaten by a Premier League side.”

Continuing his praise for the Black Cats further, Phillips singled out the attacking trio of Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts and Amad Diallo for their performances on the night.

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“Jack Clarke stepped up, Patrick Roberts was excellent, Diallo – you get the ball to those players and they will create opportunities. Diallo has one cleared off the line. He was running them ragged at this stage.” Phillips added.

“The one he had cleared off the line, Fulham then go up the other end and score. It’s a sucker punch.

“Dan Neil is unlucky there, they were really pressing hard Sunderland, creating opportunities, getting in the box, it’s a great save [Rodak’s to deny Roberts] it takes a deflection when you see it from another angle.

“They had really good opportunities so can count themselves unlucky.”

Currently sitting 9th in the Championship, Sunderland next face Reading at home in league action on Saturday afternoon.

The Verdict

I’d have to agree with the majority of what Kevin Phillips has said here.

Over two legs, Sunderland have gone toe to toe with a top half Premier League side and there is certainly no harm in coming away having been defeated.

That is even more so the case when you consider that they had no recognised striker with Ross Stewart injured and Joe Gelhardt cup tied.

The Black Cats full focus is now on the Championship as they seek a play-off place in the second tier come the end of the season.