Adnan Januzaj’s late goal earns Sunderland victory over Shrewsbury

Extra time was beckoning and the murmurings of discontent were becoming audible when, with one imperious swipe of his right foot, Adnan Januzaj dispersed the growing Wearside gloom.

The Manchester United loanee’s glorious turn and shot into the top corner from outside the area not only gave David Moyes his first win as Sunderland’s manager but also offered reasonable compensation for a horribly laboured home performance from an extremely young side.

“We’re disappointed,” said Micky Mellon, Shrewsbury’s manager who saw the substitute George Waring miss a presentable headed chance at the death. “I’m proud of my players. The only difference was that, in one moment, Januzaj showed why he’s worth millions.” Moyes, whose side visit QPR in the third round, body-swerved the post-match press conference.

Until Januzaj’s intervention, a sub-14,000 crowd had been seriously underwhelmed by Sunderland’s failure to outmanoeuvre League One opposition. In mitigation, a lengthy casualty list dictated Moyes’s central midfield was again staffed by non-specialists.

In the rested Jermain Defoe’s absence Joel Asoro enjoyed his first senior start. Strong and speedy, the 17-year-old Swedish striker quickly caught the eye but it seems Sunderland’s manager is far from his only fan. Indeed Paris Saint-Germain are reputedly monitoring the progress of a forward eventually hoping to follow in the footsteps of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Moyes sees Asoro more as “a young Defoe” and hopes he can add goals to some slick link-up play. If the youngster failed to trouble Shrewsbury’s goalkeeper, Jayson Leutwiler, all that much, his change of pace did swiftly see Gary Deegan booked for crudely flattening him. Moreover, Leutwiler made an important block to deny Patrick van Aanholt following Asoro’s clever swivel and flick and, then, much later, the teenager should have had a penalty after being upended by Adam El-Abd.

That little cameo temporarily lifted a decidedly flat atmosphere in which shirt-sleeved supporters who had spent the day basking in warm sunshine soon started shivering as a damp, chill mist began rolling in off the North Sea.

With the unsettled Lamine Koné still absent from the teamsheet, Moyes once again deployed Jack Rodwell at centre-half and finally found a place for Wahbi Khazri wide on the left.

Khazri had an early headed chance but directed it wide after connecting with Donald Love’s cross. Recently arrived from Manchester United, Love had some uneasy moments at right-back but with the former Liverpool loan signing Javier Manquillo undergoing a medical on Wednesday night after agreeing to swap Atlético Madrid for Sunderland, he could soon be given time to properly find his feet.

Moyes’s players – who could soon also be joined by Vicente Iborra, the Sevilla defensive midfielder – were dominating possession without really hurting Shrewsbury.

If Januzaj’s wing play invariably delighted, his final ball, initially at least, had an unfortunate habit of letting him down. Similarly when an inviting chance fell to Steven Pienaar, the South African’s shot flew over the bar in the wake of a surging, exhilarating, advance.

Defensively intelligent and well organised, Mellon’s side were unambitious in the attacking sense, with Jordan Pickford in the Sunderland goal coping easily enough with Louis Dodds’s early header. Later Ivan Toney, on loan from Newcastle United and impressing here, forced Pickford into a fine diversion of his dangerously swerving right foot shot.

Moyes, meanwhile, could have done with Asoro scoring rather than shooting straight at Leutwiler after meeting Januzaj’s inviting cross but the latter would soon save his night. Sure enough, seven minutes from time Duncan Watmore and Khazri cued up the Belgian for his evening-changing moment and, finally, Sunderland’s manager had something to smile about.