A new word has entered the north-east football lexicon. “Rossolution”, deriving from Wearside, is a cousin of Newcastle’s “Rafalution” and refers to the manner in which Jack Ross is revolutionising Sunderland.
As if to prevent everyone getting completely carried away, this renaissance hit a bump in the road as Wycombe not only deservedly denied Ross’s side a ninth straight win but prevented them rising to the top of League One.
A draw secured in the 84th minute thanks to substitute Josh Maja’s 11th goal of the season left Sunderland second, two points behind the leaders Portsmouth and rueing the slowest of starts.
“A superb performance from our boys,” said Gareth Ainsworth, the visiting manager. “Sunderland could have won it at the end but I’m so proud of Wycombe. We’ve come here and really competed against what I think is the best team in this division at a fantastic stadium. Sunderland have a great manager but we’ve punched above our weight.”
It was Wycombe’s first visit to the Stadium of Light and, suitably impressed, club staff took photographs of the imposing, near-50,000 capacity stadium before kick-off.
Once the game began, though, Ainsworth’s players quickly indicated they had no intention of playing the part of awestruck tourists. Indeed, a side freshly promoted from League Two held their own throughout a largely uninspiring first half, low on clear-cut chances.
If Wycombe enjoyed slightly the better of that opening 45 minutes – during which Sunderland’s Jack Baldwin made a couple of important defensive blocks – Aiden McGeady should really have given Ross’s side the lead shortly before the interval but instead dragged his shot wide from an inviting position.
It was not what the majority of a 30,727-strong crowd had come to see but their optimism levels rose slightly as a still less than cohesive Sunderland began the second half by forcing four corners in swift succession.
Ross’s willingness to switch systems and personnel mid-game has become quite a trademark and it was no surprise when he quickly made a double substitution, introducing the influential Max Power and Maja at the expense of the disappointing Dylan McGeouch and Jerome Sinclair.
Maja immediately had a dangerous shot deflected away for another corner. Chris Maguire appealed, forlornly, for a penalty after being sent tumbling in the area and Wycombe looked up against it.
It was to prove a thoroughly deceptive impression as first Dominic Gape stung Jon McLaughlin’s hands with a shot the goalkeeper held at the second attempt and then Fred Onyedinma scored a fine goal.
When Ross’s defence failed to deal with Joe Jacobson’s free kick, Onyedinma pounced on the loose ball and lashed a splendid half-volley into the roof of the net from 12 yards. Hitherto a bundle of nervous energy, Ainsworth swapped agitation for celebration; suddenly Wycombe’s manager was jumping with joy.
It proved the cue for Sunderland to finally up the tempo. Sido Jombati had shone in Wycombe’s defence but even he had no answer when, with the clock ticking down, George Honeyman did very well to accelerate beyond his marker before sending a right-wing cross whizzing low across the face of goal.
Maja was in the right place at the right time to meet it and, having taken a steadying, controlling touch, directed a close-range shot unerringly into the bottom corner.
“Given that we could have gone top, there’s frustration,” said Ross. “But Josh Maja is as good a finisher as I’ve worked with.”
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