The shouts of the Middlesbrough fans reached Karanka's ears, leaving him at a loss for what to do.
If Boro started attacking now, their weaknesses would surely be even greater, and they might concede more goals, which would make Middlesbrough fans even more unhappy.
But if he continued to defend, the fans' shouts were clearly expressing their dissatisfaction…
It's a one-cut whether you stick your head out or pull it back!
But before Karanka could decide whether his turtle would stick its head out or pull it back, the score on the field changed again.
Only three minutes had passed since the last goal when Sunderland's midfield completed a steal and quickly passed the ball to the left wing.
Borini quickly surged forward, received the ball, and ran all the way forward.
Meanwhile, Defoe naturally pushed into the center.
Borini did not dribble directly to the byline but quickly cut diagonally inward because the defending player on that route had once again been drawn away by Defoe.
At this point, Borini eyed the goal and, before the opposing defender could close in again, he directly took a shot with his right foot.
However, the shot's angle was a bit too central, Valdés parried it, and it landed in front of the small box.
At this moment, the Swedish veteran Larsson appeared there!
He used his body to hold off Chambers behind him, and after the ball fell, he immediately took a 180-degree turn and shot!
The shot hit Chambers' lower leg, and the ball clearly changed direction, heading straight for the far post of the goal.
And Valdés, the goalkeeper guarding the near post, could only helplessly watch the ball enter the net.
"Goal again! The score is now 5:0! This is crazy!"
"After Larsson's goal, all four of Sunderland's attacking players have scored today, and the other goal scorer is Captain O'Shea."
"Today's Wil-Tees derby is truly surprising!"
"The teams ranked first and second from the bottom in the League theoretically shouldn't have a huge gap in strength, but now it's a one-sided situation!"
"Of course, a football match isn't just a simple comparison of strength; often, surprising scores can occur due to fluctuating morale."
"A classic example is in the 2014 World Cup semifinals, Brazil lost 1:7 to Germany at home, but they probably wouldn't see such a score again in a hundred more matches."
"Including during our country's Jia A League era, Guoan once defeated Shenhua 9:1, and Shenhua was the League runner-up that year, while Guoan was third…"
"I just don't know when Sunderland's madness will stop today?"
Sideline.
Seeing that his defensive tactics were useless, Karanka finally made adjustments to the lineup.
He replaced the error-prone Chambers with the more attacking full-back Barragán, and then replaced the ineffective Bamford on the frontline with Uruguayan international Stuani.
Although the formation remained 4-4-2, the playing style was different.
Stuani is not tall, nor is he physically strong, but he is a very diligent striker, active in running, and high in fighting spirit.
Karanka's idea was still to find the high point up front, Negredo, while Stuani could roam behind him to create more attacking opportunities.
The reason Karanka suddenly wanted to strengthen the attack, besides being unable to defend and deciding to take a gamble, was also due to immense pressure from the fans.
It should be noted that in small and medium-sized clubs, especially teams like Middlesbrough that are rooted in the community, the influence of fans is still very significant.
If all the fans are dissatisfied with you, you absolutely cannot stay with the team!
So Karanka could only do this, making a final struggle!
But the problem is that in this world, no team can maintain an impenetrable defense when actively pushing forward to attack.
Real Madrid is like this, Manchester City is like this, and a weak team like Middlesbrough, which only cares about offense and neglects defense, is even more so.
Although they resumed their offensive, the loopholes in their defense became even more numerous.
Their original bus-parking strategy couldn't withstand Sunderland's attack, let alone now that they're dedicating more players to offense?
Immediately, it was full of holes.
After a midfield interception, Sunderland launched an attack, with Borini, Defoe, and Larsson charging forward like three arrows, side by side, towards Middlesbrough's goal.
Behind them, the ball-carrying Januzaj, after observing, chose Larsson, who had the fewest defending players nearby, to pass the ball to.
Larsson then surged forward with the ball, cutting into the penalty area from the right side of the box.
Opposing defender Oviedo decisively stuck out his leg and slid to tackle.
But Larsson feinted past this defense, and before another center-back could arrive, he delivered a low cross with his right foot near the small box.
At this moment, Middlesbrough's defense was disorganized, with most of their attention on Sunderland's trident, but they missed Vice-Captain Cattermole, who was surging from the back.
Cattermole arrived just in time, directly executing a sliding shot, rolling both himself and the ball into the net.
The referee's whistle for a valid goal also sounded abruptly!
6:0!
…
Zhao Zhao on the sidelines didn't even celebrate; instead, he made a major triple substitution!
Rodwell replaced the recently scored Cattermole in midfield, while up front, Anichebe and Khazri replaced Defoe and Januzaj, respectively.
This move made James Jun exclaim: "At this point, Zhao Zhao still shows no sign of stopping!"
"All three of his substitutions are like-for-like changes. The intention is also very clear: to bring on players with better stamina to maintain the vitality and attacking power on the field!"
"To do this while leading by six goals, I can only say… Karanka, good luck to you."
And at this moment, Karanka was, of course, already distraught.
He had traveled north and south in professional football for so many years, what kind of situation hadn't he seen?
But this one today, he really hadn't seen!
Are young people nowadays all this ruthless???
…
Sunderland's players were just as ruthless.
Zhao Zhao's instructions were clear: no matter what the score was now, if the boss hadn't said to stop, they were to continue to beat them mercilessly!
As professional players, of course, they had to listen to the Coach.
And now was the time to bully the weak; even the regular and vice-captains who usually didn't score much were scoring, who wouldn't want to get a goal against them?
As a result, Middlesbrough's already disintegrated defense was directly torn to shreds by Sunderland's powerful attacking firepower.
In the 79th minute, Khazri took a corner kick, and Lescott scored with a header, 7:0!
In the 84th minute, Borini's shot in the box was saved, and Khazri successfully scored on the rebound, 8:0!
In the 90th minute, Bernardo fouled Anichebe in the box, and Sunderland was awarded a penalty.
And this penalty opportunity, everyone actually gave it to the goalkeeper Pickford!
And Pickford lived up to expectations, powerfully striking the ball into the top corner, scoring the first goal of his professional career!
9:0!
This goal also made the entire Stadium of Light erupt in joy, and the players even wildly slapped Pickford's head in celebration!
And the referee seemed unable to bear it any longer.
He didn't give a single second of injury time; as soon as the penalty was scored, he immediately blew the final whistle and left work right away!
James Jun also excitedly commented:
"Today, we witnessed a massacre, a thrilling goal feast!"
"Sunderland's nine goals were scored by nine different players, including the goalkeeper Pickford, which is truly a rare sight in a hundred years!"
"In fact, this victory also allowed Sunderland to write its name into history."
"In Middlesbrough's century-long history, their biggest loss was on November 6, 1954, 0:9 to Blackburn, which was in the second-tier League at the time."
"And in Premier League history, the biggest difference in score between two teams was also 0:9, when Ipswich was massacred by Manchester United on March 4, 1995."
"Returning to Sunderland's team history, their highest winning score was a hundred years ago, on December 5, 1908, when they swept another arch-rival, Newcastle United, 9:1."
"In other words, today's victory gives Sunderland three records simultaneously!"
"And as Middlesbrough's Coach today, Karanka's name will probably be nailed to the pillar of historical shame along with today's result…"