Sunderland manager says the penalty decision against Peterborough United was the right call (well he would say that wouldn’t he?)

Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson insisted referee Scott Oldham was right to award his side a match-winning penalty 10 minutes from time against Peterborough United at the Stadium of Light yesterday (September 26).
Christy Pym of Peterborough United dives in vein as Grant Leadbitter of Sunderland (not in picture) scores the only goal of the game. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.Christy Pym of Peterborough United dives in vein as Grant Leadbitter of Sunderland (not in picture) scores the only goal of the game. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.
Christy Pym of Peterborough United dives in vein as Grant Leadbitter of Sunderland (not in picture) scores the only goal of the game. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Oldham angered Posh by pointing to the spot after a collision between Denver Hume of the home side and Jack Taylor. Grant Leadbitter converted the spot-kick which proved to be the only goal of a tense, tight struggle.

And Parkinson felt the decision was a just one and he was delighted to pip a side he expects to be challenging for League One honours.

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“Their bench wasn’t happy, but it looked a definite penalty to me,” Parkinson stated. “Denver was desperate to get into the penalty area and he was rewarded.

“It came at a good time as we’d lost our way a little bit after a very strong start to the second-half. It was always going to need a moment like that to separate two good sides.

“It was a hard-fought victory against a team with very good, dangerous players. They play positively with Clarke-Harris, Dembele and Szmodics all good attacking players.

“It was nip and tuck throughout. We had spells of good possession, but our final ball lacked quality. There was a lot of space on the pitch because of the way Peterborough play. We worked hard on stopping them playing out from the back.

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“It was a very good win for us against a team who will be up there chellenging.”

Back-to-back wins have propelled Sunderland to fourth place in the League One table after three games. Posh are four points and 15 places behind them.