Miron Reflects on Sunderland Point
For Miron Muslic, the most important aspect to Argyle’s trip to Sunderland on Saturday was the reaction.
He meant the reaction by his players to their stinging 5-0 defeat three days prior to Burnley, at Home Park, in which the Greens conceded all the goals in the first half. However, the reaction from the 800-strong Green Army, high in the Gods at the Stadium of Light, told a telling tale too.
After making 50% of their longest round trip of the season, the traveling faithful got to see their team not only play in an organised, committed fashion, but also grab a deserved point by virtue of a 90th-minute equaliser from Nathanael Ogbeta.
Argyle had taken the lead after Ryan Hardie forced the ball over the line via a deflection from home goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, but Sunderland quickly equalised via Wilson Isidor, and went ahead with a goal from Trai Hume, before Ogbeta’s intervention.
“The most important thing after such hard hits is to show a reaction,” said Muslic. “Today, we had a team ready to fight for Argyle; ready to give it all for the Green Army.
“Before we left the locker room, I said: ‘we have an obligation. They left Plymouth at two o'clock in the morning to travel the whole night. Our only obligation is to give it all for them.’ And we did.
“It was a proof of life, and that was the most important thing. If you get beaten like we did a couple of days ago against Burnley, it takes a lot of courage then to come here and try to perform.
“I said in the half-time against Burnley, it takes a lot of guts and courage to get out and finish the game. If we can do this, this will be a step forward for us.
“It's a small step forward, but it's a step forward. We are moving slowly, but we are moving and that's okay.
“I think we had a very good defensive structure, which started with [Ryan] Hardie, with Mustapha [Bundu] and with Cal [Wright]. They gave us just the legs we needed, but it's just impossible only to defend here. We have also to be brave in moments where we can actually attack them. Purely defensively, we did it well.
“It's Sunderland and it's away, so they will create - that's normal - but we have to be brave and to believe that we can also hurt them in transition moments. That's why we took the lead.
“Then [we conceded] an equaliser and went 2-1 down, and just minutes before that we had a big, big chance of Cal, who hit the post for another lead. Again, it takes a lot of heart to come back. We did this. That's why I'm happy.
“[Ogbeta’s goal] was a good moment for all of us because that gave us hope. We are sportsmen. We are professional football players.
“A couple of days ago, we lost 5-0 and it was completely deserved. The reaction afterwards is the most important, and we showed that reaction.”