Sutton 4 Walsall 0 - Report
Walsall suffered their heaviest defeat of the season as they were condemned to a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Sutton United.
The U's ended a 10 match winless league run in emphatic style with Omari Patrick opening the scoring with a superb free-kick inside six minutes.
Harry Smith's volley doubled Sutton's lead six minutes later, before Joe Riley's own goal added a third for the hosts.
Smith bagged his brace before the break to hand Walsall their heaviest league defeat since February 2022.
Sutton inflicted a first half massacre on Walsall to storm into the break with an unassailable lead. The first chance fell to Liam Gordon, who fired just wide of the post from range, but Sutton rocked the Saddlers with a moment of magic from Patrick.
Sam Hart left the free-kick for Patrick to take aim from 25 yards and the Sutton winger notched his fifth of the campaign with a sublime strike into the far corner.
Danny Johnson, who was restored to the starting XI after two games on the bench, sent a volley straight down the throat of Dean Bouzanis.
But Sutton were celebrating a second just moments later when Smith powered a volley into the roof of the net at the other end.
Walsall failed to deal with Hart's long throw from the left and Donervon Daniels' attempted headed clearance dropped invitingly for Smith to leave Owen Evans completely helpless with a clinical strike.
It nearly went from bad to worse for Walsall immediately after falling two behind. Sutton produced another impressive attack, which resulted in Josh Coley blazing his effort over the bar from close range.
Johnson squandered a chance to split the deficit in half after 20 minutes. Gordon curled a delicious cross into the penalty area, and Johnson failed to connect with his header.
The loose ball presented itself for Jamille Matt, whose tame effort was gathered with ease by Bouzanis. Knowles also saw a shot deflected wide, before Aramide Oteh failed to control a bright pass from Knowles at the back post.
Those missed chances would prove costly as Sutton rubbed salt into gaping Walsall wounds. Christian N'Guessan curled a low cross to the back post, and Smith thought he'd bundled it home to bag his brace, although Joe Riley got the decisive final touch.
Smith did score his second of the afternoon eight minutes before the break. It came down the right once again with Smith powering his header beyond the reach of Evans from Joe Kizzi's swinging cross.
The defence looked a shadow of the back line that defended so supremely against Bradford and MK Dons, while the attacking partnership of Matt and Johnson failed to deliver.
Matt was replaced at the break, as Walsall started the second half brightly with a flurry of chances. Ryan Stirk saw his low shot thwarted by Bouzanis and Johnson was unable to scramble the rebound over the line.
The Saddlers kept the attack alive as a Sutton body blocked Gordon's shot, and Knowles drew another stop from Bouzanis. Gordon also sent one into the side netting, although Sutton had numerous opportunities to add to their four goal advantage in the second period.
Patrick gave Riley a torrid time down the left and beat him for pace to break into the box. Harry Williams swooped across to divert his low effort behind with a sliding block.
Sutton then had the ball in the net after Kizzi climbed to nod past Evans, although the full-back was adjudged to have fouled his marker.
Smith continued to hunt for his hat-trick and came close when his header across goal sailed narrowly wide of the target, and Aiden O'Brien was also masterfully foiled one-on-one by Evans.
Teams
Sutton Starting XI (4-4-2): Bouzanis; Kizzi, Goodliffe, Sowunmi, Hart (Jackson 86); Patrick (Pereira 88), Clay, N'Guessan, Coley (Beautyman 86); O'Brien (Angol 74), Smith (Kasimu 88).
Unused subs: Arnold.
Walsall (4-4-2): Evans; Riley, Daniels (Griffiths 77), Williams, Gordon; Knowles (James-Taylor 63), Stirk, McEntee, Oteh; Matt (Hutchinson 46), Johnson (Tierney 77).
Unused subs: Smith, Foulkes, Draper.
Referee: Ed Duckworth
Attendance: 3,009 (275)
