Sunderland handed referee who made Ange Postecoglou fume for Leeds clash
Sunderland will be looking to get back to winning ways against Leeds on Sunday, and they may have a helping hand.
Regis Le Bris has led the Black Cats to a magical start to their first Premier League campaign in eight years, with his side sitting sixth.
Sunderland drew 0-0 with Brighton last time out, in an evenly matched contest at the AMEX Stadium and will want to make a statement against their fellow promoted side.
Sunderland are expected to finish in mid-table, but they will want to exceed expectations and continue to thrive when they host the Peacocks on 28 December.
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Tony Harrington will take charge of Sunderland’s encounter with the Elland Road outfit, with Steve Meredith and Alistair Nelson as his assistants
The fourth official will be Simon Hooper, while Matt Donohue will be in charge of VAR, with Tim Wood assisting him.
The referee appointment is a good omen for Le Bris’ side, as they won their only match that he has taken charge of so far this season.
Why Sunderland fans will be buzzing with announcement after Postecoglou left fuming
Harrington was in charge when the Mackems secured a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest in September, and a controversial free-kick decided the game.
The referee gave the set-piece for a challenge by Nicolas Dominguez on Trai Hume, and the Black Cats scored from it.
Granit Xhaka lifted the ball into the box, and Omar Alderete headed home past Matz Sels for the only goal of the contest, which gave them all three points and helped get the Australian dismissed.
Speaking after the game in his media duties, Postecoglou said: “Frustrating. Disappointing. It’s another game we have allowed to get away from us, where really we should be very comfortably overcoming (the opposition).
“I didn’t think there was anything in it (the free-kick). Irrespective, even if the referee has made an absolute high howler, we can still deal with the free-kick better.
“What we did after that is more of a concern to me than the decision.
“It was a whole range of decisions from the officials, from awarding and then some holding in the box. But I still think we were way too lax in our determination to keep the ball out of the net.”
It is clear that he was furious with the incident, and Le Bris will hope to get some favourable decisions from Harrington again this time around.
The North East outfit cannot rely on the officials, but it would not hurt to have tight calls go for them when they face the Whites, and help them continue to shock the rest of the division.
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