Sunderland pay the full penalty

IT is a truth universally acknowledged in football that fortune deserts a struggling team at the point it needs it most.

Sunderland had used their FA Cup run as a confidence-boosting exercise and a diversion from their Premiership woes, but that avenue has now closed after they were undone by a classic giant-killing display from a side they are likely to face next season in the First Division.

Watford barely mustered a decent shot, let alone one on target, and the penalty which enabled them to scramble into the quarter-final draw was about as controversial as they get. Sunderland, meanwhile, blew chance after chance and then saw referee Mike Dean first award a dubious spot-kick against Jason McAteer for a "raised arm" on Heidar Helguson, then order Tommy Smith's saved penalty to be re-taken after the linesman flagged Thomas Sorensen for moving off his line.