O’Neill shrugs off ‘marginal’ offside call

THE omens were not promising for Sunderland yesterday when boss Martin O’Neill was forced to do without goalkeeper Keiren Westwood, defenders Phil Bardsley and Titus Bramble and midfielder Kieran Richardson.

But O’Neill’s side produced a performance of real grit to give themselves the opportunity to snatch a remarkable victory at the death.

There was a suspicion of offside about the goal, although after seeing his side concede a controversial penalty to drop to two points to Everton on St Stephen’s Day, O’Neill was delighted to have received the benefit of the doubt this time around.