Sunderland boss Alex Neil frustrated with missed chances at Charlton
Posted Sunday, March 06, 2022 by PA
Sunderland manager Alex Neil was left to rue missed chances as his side could only draw 0-0 with struggling Charlton.
The Wearsiders slipped out of the League One play-off places after they were unable to find a winner in London.
Despite the setback, Neil believed his side played better in the first half than they did during last week’s stunning 3-0 win at Wigan.
He said: “I think we deserved to win, everybody could see that. For the first 35 to 40 minutes we were completely dominant.
“We probably had four or five really good opportunities, but we didn’t quite take them.
“We created more chances today than what we’ve probably done in the last two or three matches. It’s frustrating because we’ve scored in every single one of them.
“What we’ve done now is given ourselves a platform to try and be successful.
“The performance, particularly in the first half, was as good as we’ve played since I’ve been here.”
League One top scorer Ross Stewart spurned numerous opportunities, missing the target from corners twice in the first half before he was denied by the impressive Charlton goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray late on.
The keeper also saved from an Alex Pritchard free-kick and denied substitute Elliott Embleton with his foot with two minutes remaining, while Chris Gunter cleared a Dennis Cirkin effort away from almost on the line.
Charlton offered little, although Sam Lavelle put an Elliot Lee free-kick just wide after the hour mark.
But the draw ended Charlton’s run of five straight defeats and gave manager Johnnie Jackson something to build on.
He said “It was a tough battling performance, they’re a very good team, they score a lot of goals and cause you a lot of problems.
“We knew going into it would be tough, so to come away with a clean sheet on the back of shipping too many goals was really pleasing.
“We defended excellently, the team threw our bodies on the line, and showed a real heart and spirit.
“It wasn’t a vintage Charlton, but that will come when we’re getting some guys back and getting confidence.
“It’s been tough, no getting away from it. It was a tough run of fixtures coinciding with us being at our most depleted.”
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