Fine margins as Stoke City knock out Sunderland in extra time
Substitute Niall Ennis scored an extra-time winner as Stoke City knocked out Sunderland in an all-Championship FA Cup third-round tie.
Ennis took advantage of a mistake by the home defence to grab his first goal for 11 months and ensure a first victory for new Potters boss Mark Robins.
A Tom Cannon penalty had put the visitors in front early on before a second-half effort from 19-year-old Serbian Milan Aleksic brought the Black Cats level.
Sunderland missed chances to win it in normal time before Ennis' strike settled matters eight minutes away from a possible penalty shoot-out.
Robins, who had drawn his opening league game in charge, has plenty of FA Cup pedigree, of course, from his playing days with Manchester United and then from leading Coventry City agonisingly close to the final last season.
He would have been pleased with a controlled first half from his side after they were gifted the lead.
The Black Cats played themselves into trouble, causing Luke O'Nien to bring down Lewis Koumas, and on-loan Leicester forward Cannon netted his 11th goal of the season from the spot.
Sunderland, who are fourth in the league and chasing promotion, had made five changes and looked disjointed in that opening 45 minutes.
But their second-half improvement brought an equaliser from Aleksic as he finished calmly, following a lovely pass from Adil Aouchiche, for his first goal in English football.
Eliezer Mayenda should have put Sunderland ahead but he fired into the side netting from a great position, while Potters goalkeeper Viktor Johansson made decent saves to stop Aouchiche and Aaron Connolly from winning it in normal time.
In extra time, Stoke's ex-Sunderland man Lynden Gooch forced a good save out of Simon Moore before Aouchiche shot wastefully over inside the box after a fine run from Mayenda.
But the decisive moment was provided by Ennis, playing his first game since early November, as he beat Dan Neil to a loose ball as Sunderland lost possession in midfield, ran through and rounded Moore to tuck home his first goal since February 2024.
It secured Stoke's place in the next round but continues Sunderland's misery in this competition. The Wearside club have only reached the fourth round once in 10 seasons, while they have now failed to win any of their past nine ties at the Stadium of Light.
Another note of concern for boss Regis Le Bris will be a potential injury for defender Aji Alese, who was carried off in the second half.
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris said:
"We started a bit slowly. After that we were in the game, we wanted to play.
"After the first goal, with the team we had today we played good football and we tried until the end to score.
"We deserved the equaliser and we could have probably won before full-time but it wasn't the case. In extra-time both teams were tired and that led to a mistake from us."
Stoke City manager Mark Robins said:
"I'm really glad we got through. The lads deserve credit for sticking at it and the two goals came from our good press.
"It was two young teams with people making mistakes when they didn't need to. There weren't many chances.
"I'm glad we got through. It was tough watching at times but it's a start for us. If you can't play brilliantly then stick at it, which we did."
