FA Cup<\/a> quarter-final and a World Cup. The pitch down Port\u00a0Vale\u2019s right flank was corrugated enough to level out the technical differences between the teams. The quality of the game deteriorated to a pleasing degree \u2013 pleasing, for the neutral, in that there was a clear sense of jeopardy.<\/p>\nBen Waine beats Melker Ellborg to score Port Vale\u2019s winner. Photograph: David Klein\/Reuters<\/p>\n
\u201cIt levels everything,\u201d Le Bris, the Sunderland manager, said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not an excuse. It is what it is. Even with the conditions, I think we should have found a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was from that side of the pitch that Luke O\u2019Nien, the Sunderland captain, under pressure from Waine in the 26th minute, was so intent on ensuring he did not underhit his back\u2011pass that he almost scored one of the most memorable FA Cup own goals in living memory. His fiercely struck lofted pass forced Melker \u00adEllborg, the Sunderland goalkeeper, to backpedal swiftly and head the ball over his own crossbar. It was surely one of the best saves of the round, and without hands.<\/p>\n
This led to the first of two Port\u00a0Vale corners from which they ended up scoring. From the second, receiving it short, Ethon Archer crossed long. When the ball came back towards the near post, Dajaune Brown mis\u2011hit his shot, along the six-yard line, for Waine to head the ball over Ellborg.<\/p>\n
Joe Gauci, the Vale goalkeeper, saved by a post in the opening four minutes when he inadvertently cued up Eliezer Mayenda for a close-range header, was in superb form.<\/p>\n
Naming a strong side, Sunderland made the two changes imposed on them by suspensions after beating Leeds on Tuesday and had plenty of other close shaves. But Vale\u2019s organi\u00adsation and energy never deserted them. Habib Diarra, the matchwinner at Elland Road, shot across the face of goal just before half-time, and had a lofted effort cleared off the line by Jordan Gabriel just after; Chemsdine Talbi\u2019s follow-up was saved right on the line by Gauci who later tipped over efforts by Nilson Angulo and Dan Ballard.<\/p>\n
Vale may have ridden good fortune at times but, on the hour, were so unlucky not to go a further goal ahead, or at least a man up. Andre Gray, an FA Cup finalist with Watford in 2019, blasted a pass for George Hall to race clear before he was taken down by Ellborg just outside the penalty area. Anthony Taylor gestured that Hall had been running away from goal, and showed a yellow card to the Sunderland goalkeeper. But Vale deservedly prevailed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t really sunk in at the moment,\u201d Brady said. \u201cI\u2019m just really happy with the boys in their performance today. I haven\u2019t really looked at who\u2019s left in the competition. We\u2019ve got to compartmentalise because we\u2019ve got a quarter of the league season and an FA\u00a0Cup tie to play in eight weeks. It\u2019s a bit of a pain in the bum to be honest! It\u2019s a privilege but it\u2019s tough as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Waine, a Newcastle fan from New Zealand, reproduced Alan Shearer\u2019s trademark single-arm cele\u00adbration in front of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-465103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}