Sunderland have issued an apology to supporters after allowing the Stadium of Light to be redecorated with banners for bitter rivals Newcastle United.
The two sides face off in the FA Cup third round on Saturday afternoon and it promises to be a fiery affair.
It’ll be their first showdown since Newcastle were relegated from the Premier League in 2016. Ahead of the game, Magpies supporters were allowed to refit Sunderland’s £600 corporate area.
Club chiefs gave the sign-off on banners, which were black and white and featured messages aimed at Sunderland.
Among the messages displayed were: “Keep the black and white flying high,” a mockery of Sunderland’s “Keep the red flag flying high” anthem.
Mackem greeting ‘Ha’way’ was also crossed out for the Geordie greeting of ‘Ho’way’.
Behind the bar were “Cheer Up” signs. That’s in reference to a song sung by Newcastle fans aimed at former Black Cats manager Peter Reid.
The full song is: “Cheer up Peter Reid, oh what can it mean to a sad Mackem b*****d and a s**t football team.”
Images have gone viral on social media and Sunderland have decided to take the banners down and called the incident a ‘serious error in judgement’.
A statement from the club reads: “Sunderland AFC acknowledges that a serious error in judgement was made in relation to Black Cats Bar earlier this afternoon.
“We apologise to our fans for the understandable concern they have fairly voiced in response and this sentiment is shared by the Club’s Ownership Group and Board of Directors, who have requested an immediate review is undertaken to determine how this process unfolded.
“A direct decision has also been taken by the Ownership Group and Board of Directors to return the space to its original state and we once again apologise to our supporters that this was not addressed sooner.”
Sunderland and Newcastle’s last meeting in the Premier League ended in a 1-1 draw.The FA Cup third round begins on Thursday evening when Crystal Palace take on Everton at Selhurst Park.
All that changed four minutes from the end when Jota went clean through against Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.
The Portugal international skipped away from Dubravka and took two touches of the ball. Seconds later, he hit the ground following a touch from Dubravka and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot.
Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville was furious with the decision, venting: “Oh no. You can’t give a penalty for that.
“He goes forward and then goes forward and then goes down. The delay is too great. It’s two or three yards after the contact.”
Salah stepped up to convert to ensure Liverpool started 2024 with a win.
Jota took to social media at full-time and immediately let Newcastle supporters know he wanted to win by any means necessary.
Along with a picture of him going down after Dubravka’s challenge, the 27-year-old said: “Happy New Year.”
Former Premier League referee Mike Dean provided analysis on Sky Sports and admitted he was uncomfortable with the penalty decision. He added it would’ve been difficult for VAR to overturn due to the initial contact made.
Liverpool were worthy of their 13th Premier League win of the campaign as they look to win a second title under Klopp. They recorded a whopping 34 shots on goal, with an expected goals of 7.27. That’s the highest on record since Opta started tracking the metric in 2010.
Klopp told Liverpool’s official website: “I didn’t have to look at the stats because I saw it [in the game], it was really special.
It was Dubravka but it was ourselves as well. There were moments where we forced it when the technique was not great, but then there were moments when Dubravka had a top save as well.
“We scored twice [where] we squared the ball and put it in the empty goal. We didn’t stop, that’s the most important thing.
“I said here a few weeks ago, I spoke about the atmosphere – tonight the atmosphere was exceptional and how we all took together these missed chances, that’s how an atmosphere is.
“It was not like, ‘Oh my God, what are they doing?’ And I would understand that in moments, but everybody was just really on fire: we go again, we go again, we go again. And we did, we scored four goals, which is already an outstanding number. All good.”
