“He made the difference for us” – Alex Neil highlights Sunderland player who was crucial in Oxford win

Sunderland picked up a hugely significant 2-1 win at Oxford United on Saturday with Elliot Embleton scoring a late winner for the Black Cats.

Alex Neil’s men led early on through Corry Evans before being pegged back by Elliott Moore, but kept going and produced a brilliantly worked winner for Embleton to slot home in the 89th minute.

Anthony Patterson had a great game between the sticks and kept Sunderland in it at times, vindication for Neil’s surprise choice to drop Ron-Thorben Hoffmann to allow the 21-year-old his first sustained run as the number one glovesman.

Neil had his say on Patterson’s crucial performance at the Kassam Stadium when he spoke to ChronicleLive.

He said: “His second save, in particular, was a great save.

“These games against teams at the top end of the division are going to be defined by key moments, and that was a key moment and he made the difference for us.

“We had a key moment (in the Oxford penalty area for Embleton’s goal) and that made the difference, too.

“Anthony is only a young kid, so he has a lot ahead of him.

“This is his first season at this level, as it is for quite a few of the young players, so to be competing where we are and carry the burden that comes with playing for such a massive club as Sunderland and the expectation that comes with that, and perform at the same time, you need to be made of stern stuff, and thankfully our young lads are.”

Neil has gone with experience over youth in some areas since taking the reins, so Patterson must have shown a lot in training to force his way into contention and he appears to have cemented the position for the remainder of the campaign.

The Verdict

Saturday’s result was enormous and went a long way to making Sunderland firm favourites to