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Club Focus - Sunderland - Hard work and good fortune gifts Sunderland a well earned first win of the season.
Wednesday 01 September 2010
Sunderland defied the odds to pull off another memorable home win against big name opponents on Sunday afternoon when a last minute penalty gave them a 1-0 win over Manchester City. It was their first win over the Manchester club for over nine years and although the away side’s profligacy in front of goal had much to do with the end result, it was hard to begrudge the Mackems’ victory after their excellent second half performance.
Towards the end of the game, with City beginning to look like they would be grateful for a point, the Black Cat’s pressed for the win, when Ahmed El-Muhammadi burst down the right-wing and crossed for Darren Bent who was felled in the area by Micah Richards. In the 4th and final minute of injury time Bent converted the resulting penalty to ensure Sunderland’s first three points of the season. During the first half City dominated possession, although the hard working Black Cats restricted them to only a couple of opportunities. One, which fell to Carlos Tevez, should have been converted and the chance will go down as one of the misses of this season. Steve Bruce wisely abandoned his favoured 4-4-2 formation and went for five across the middle, with Steed Malbranque, Jordan Henderson and Lee Cattermole going man for man on Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong. During the first half it looked as if City’s powerful trio would be too much for the home side’s midfield, with Toure in particular proving a real handful. However, through a combination of perseverance and hard work, the Black Cat’s midfield were able to restrict City’s chances in the first half before imposing themselves on the game more effectively in the second half. The other smart tactical move by Steve Bruce was to double up on both flanks, with Fraizer Campbell, then Danny Welbeck providing good cover for Kieran Richardson and the impressive El Muhammadi combining with initially Anton Ferdinand then Phil Bardsley to nullify the threat from City’s James Milner and Adam Johnson.
After the game Bruce praised his side for their endeavour saying: “Man for man today it was all about what the Premier League is. We passed it well but the great thing is everyone stuck to their jobs and it was good to see us being resolute.” He singled out Simon Mignolet for praise who had made a string of vital saves with one particularly standing out deep into the second half: “The save was magnificent and that will help him” he said: “He’s still a boy and we brought him in because we think he is going to be an outstanding keeper. He’s got all the attributes, we’ve thrown him in at the deep end and he’s produced a wonder save which kept us in the game.” It did not all go the Black Cat’s way however, with Campbell and Michael Turner having to leave the game before the interval with injuries. It’s still unclear how long both will be out for, but the Sunderland manager has expressed particular concern over Campbell’s knock: “He’s twisted his knee ligaments but we won’t know until we scan him tomorrow. We hope he is going to be ok because in that area we are light.”
A lack of attacking options in now clearly a concern for Bruce, but at the time of writing there were no new developments on the transfer front but the club continued to be linked with Asamoah Gyan and Charles N’Zogbia. The Black Cats now find themselves in the top half of the table with four points from three games. Although sober reflection might not be order of the day on Wearside, the order of the points could be a concern. Big home wins are becoming a characteristic of the Bruce tenure but he needs to reverse another defining characteristic and improve his side’s abysmal away form. If this can be achieved the Black Cats could well be in line for a top half finish. The work ethic, attitude and passing of the team were all exceptional on Sunday and these attributes need to stay at the same high level against less illustrious opponents.
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