Tony Mowbray praised his player’s for overcoming QPR’s stubborn opposition on Saturday.
Tony Mowbray said his Sunderland side fully deserved their comeback win at QPR after they fully exploited their extra player in the second half.
Kenneth Paal gave the hosts an early lead against the run of play but Jack Colback saw red for a challenge on Jobe shortly afterwards.
Jack Clarke’s deflected strike levelled the game right on the stroke of half time and from there the Black Cats were dominant, scoring through Dan Ballard and Abdoullah Ba.
Mowbray brought Niall Huggins off at half time in order to introduce an extra attacking player, with Patrick Roberts coming on to play a part in Ballard’s crucial goal early in the second half.
The head coach said he was pleased with his team’s performance in the first half but felt they just needed a bit of extra creativity.
“I thought we started really well,” Mowbray said.
“We dominated, and then they scored.
“It wasn’t as if they were peppering our goal, but it was a good strike right in the bottom corner. I sat and watched for 25 minutes and we needed some more creativity, so I brought Niall off and brought Patrick on at half time.
“We changed the shape a bit and I think we got control. They were trying to protect what they had but we’ve got some good footballers and we got the job done. I think we deserved it, we controlled it.
“I’ve watched their four or five games and they generally spend a lot of time out of possession – we knew we would have a lot of the ball but it was about how we break down that defensive blocks. We found a way today.
“I think the red card was indicative… there were a lot of over-zealous challenges before that, they are a team driven to be competitive and the game was exactly that. I thought we controlled it and I think we were alright first half, we controlled it even from behind and I felt it was a matter of time.
“They were trying to score on transition through Armstrong who is a hugely talented boy, but I thought O’Nien and Ballard dealt with him well.
“I felt it was a matter of time and Clarke was a thorn in their side. Then we brought Patrick on, I thought we could play round them and I felt him and Pritchard could play passes centrally into their box as well, so we could mix our game up a bit.
“It was really hot at pitch level and I think our brand of football suited the conditions. We’re really happy, the question was whether we could beat their block and against ten men, we got there eventually.”
Mowbray said he hadn’t seen back the challenge which saw Colback sent off but said the reaction on the pitch suggested it was a poor one.
“I thought the referee had a difficult day, I didn’t agree with many of the decisions in the first half,” Mowbray said.
“I haven’t seen it back, though the reaction of my players suggests it was a bad challenge.”
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