Lynden Gooch has delivered some top performances of late for Sunderland and that trend continued Friday as the Black Cats took a major step towards automatic promotion from League One.
Gooch scored his fourth league goal of the season before setting up the eventual winner in a 3-1 victory over Oxford United. Sunderland moved to within two points of second place Peterborough United in the standings with Friday’s win. Sunderland faces Peterborough next week.
The Black Cats had to play catch up after James Henry’s first-half opener for the visitors, but Gooch was in the right spot before halftime to equalize. Jordan Jones’ good work on the right wing eventually saw a low cross from the winger hammered home by Gooch.
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The Black Cats would continue to pile on the pressure late at the Stadium of Light and Gooch played a vital role in the game-winning goal. His work on the right wing in the 81st minute eventually saw a pull back cross finished by veteran Aiden McGeady for a 2-1 Sunderland lead.
Max Power would added an insurance goal in stoppage time to cap off the 3-1 comeback victory.
Gooch went the distance for Lee Johnson’s squad, completing one dribble, 74% of his passes, and scoring on his lone shot on goal. It was a strong outing from the California native, who recently helped Sunderland win the EFL Trophy at Wembley Stadium prior to the international break.
Sunderland now moves up to 70 points this season through 37 matches, two points back of Peterborough and three points out of leaders Hull City. The Black Cats will next travel to Peterborough on Monday before eight more matches this season.
Gooch has been with Sunderland since its days in the Premier League and a strong finish to the current season could see the Black Cats move one step closer to a return in the near future.
His level is a place where he can be a consistent contributor to a team, starting every match and playing a prominent role over a sustained spell. He’s been there for going on five years now and has really found a home there. If they go up to the Championship, hopefully, that’ll still be his level and he’ll continue to be a midfield staple.
You know, you don’t need to have hot-take opinion on everything.
I’m glad he’s found his level — and I don’t mean that in a disparaging way. Not every American player can start for the national team, but he’s been a steady contributor at that club for years now and Sunderland supporters have got to appreciate that. If he can get them back up to the Championship, that’ll be a big achievement in what’s already a solid career.
what is his “level?” he follows the team around where they go out of loyalty. the snobs perk their heads up when the team is in the right league as though that reflects him personally even though he’s played everywhere from EPL to Conference. same player regardless. silliness.
He was at Sunderland when they were relegated. Apparently the EPL and Championship were not his level. Do you have a need to nit pick everyone’s comments as if you are some sort of expert?
He started for those teams but it’s not as if one player will single handedly keep a team from being relegated. Also, he has a young player holding his own and getting minutes when he first came in on a PL level team. He also scored a goal and was registering assists against PL clubs. It’s not far fetched to think that he could produce at that level right now. My thinking is his ceiling is probably a bottom table PL team or a top champ team.