Reds fight back after going 3-0 down but lose

The referee awarded a controversial penalty against Ethan Pinnock on 18 minutes which was scored followed by two more goals in the next 14 minutes. But the Reds launched an impressive fightback with Kieffer Moore pulling one goal back before the break then heading in a second after the interval. 

Barnsley, who showed great character and dominated large parts of the game, had chances to level but Sunderland eventually scored a fourth on the counter-attack and are now five points clear of their visitors who have slipped down to fifth in the table. 

Daniel Stendel made three changes from the side that drew 1-1 at home to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday. Zeki Fryers returned from suspension to replace Dani Pinillos at left-back while, in front of him, injured winger Ryan Hedges’ place was taken by Mamadou Thiam. Striker Cauley Woodrow came in for Mike Bahre as the Reds returned to 4-4-2 after playing 4-2-3-1 at the weekend. 

Barnsley had the first real chance when Kieffer Moore nodded over a tough opportunity from a Fryers cross, but Sunderland missed much better headed opportunity with Josh Maja off target from six yards out. 

Moore then held the ball up brilliantly before passing the ball out to right-back Dimitri Cavare who advanced into the box and his shot was straight at the goalkeeper whose kick immediately after led to the opener. Cavare misjudged the long ball and Sunderland advanced into the box with Aiden McGeady who was tackled by Ethan Pinnock.  Referee Andy Madley awarded a hotly-disputed penalty as Pinnock appeared to have won the ball. McGeedy slotted the spot-kick then it was 2-0 within a minute as the Reds seemed rattled and out of position as they allowed Maja to pick up the ball deep in their half and advance into space before picking his spot to find the bottom left corner. 

Maja then missed another excellent chance as he headed a cross off target from close range for the second time. Woodrow almost pulled one back but saw his header cleared off the line by Jack Baldwin after Cavare flicked on a corner.

It was 3-0 on 32 minutes when Sunderland broke down the left and pulled the ball back to Lynden Gooch who curled brilliantly into the top left corner from the edge of the box.

Barnsley made it 3-1 before the break when the impressive Fryers broke down the left and crossed low to Moore who initially shot too close to the goalkeeper but was gifted a second chance by a poor defensive clearance and tucked it away. 

It was almost 3-2 before the break when Moore headed down a long ball to Woodrow who chested and turned brilliantly but fired against the post from seven yards out. 

The Reds finished the first half very strongly and began in the same way after the interval, eventually making it 3-2 when Moore headed in the latest in a succession of Alex Mowatt corners from the right wing. 

Sunderland nearly went 4-2 up when substitute Luke O’Nien headed narrowly wide but the Reds also came close when Moore headed to the goalkeeper just away from Woodrow who also nodded over from a cross by substitute Jacob Brown. 

Barnsley were on top for the majority of the second half but struggled to create clear chances. Sunderland were a danger on the break as Adam Davies made a brilliant one-on-one tackle to deny Maguire who went clean through.  The hosts eventually made it 4-2 on the counter-attack as they had extra men on the overlap and worked it to O’Nien who tapped into the empty net. 

Sunderland (4-5-1): McLaughin; Matthews, Flanagan, Baldwin, James; Power,  Gooch (Oviedo 90); Honeyman, Maguire (Sinclair 84), McGeady; Maja (O’Nien 59). Unused: Patterson, Ozturk, Hackett, Mumba.  Goals: McGeady 19 (pen), Maja 20, Gooch 32, O’Nien 83.  Barnsley (4-4-2): Davies; Cavare, Pinnock, Lindsay, Fryers (Brown 59); Potts (Moncur 77), Mowatt, McGeehan, Thiam; Moore, Woodrow (Adeboyejo 85). Unused: Greatorex, Bahre, Pinillos, Jackson. Goals: Moore 41, 61.  Yellow cards: Cavare, Pinnock. …