Sunderland sink sorry Newcastle in dramatic Tyne-Wear derby
Matt Haynes | October 25, 2015
Sunderland 3-0 Newcastle United
- Black Cats go above Magpies on goal difference
- Big Sam wins derby on Stadium of Light dugout debut
- McClaren’s men dominate first-half but Coloccini sent off
- Johnson pen, Jones and Fletcher give Sunderland sixth derby victory in a row
Sunderland record breakers
Sunderland were emphatic winners at the Stadium of Light recording a 3-0 win over fierce rivals Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby.
You got it here first. Before today, no team in this fixture had won six successive Tyne-Wear derbies. While we’re on this theme, Sam Allardyce became the fourth consecutive Black Cats boss to win this particular clash in their second game in charge of the club, after Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat.
In a game that had everything, if you’d have blinked it would have been over. The first half, breathless as the Magpies swooped time and again on their prey’s goal, Argentine centre back Fabricio Coloccini with an acrobatic effort inside the first 10 minutes setting the tone of the opening period.
The visitors continued with the same riveting rambunctiousness they had applied to the 6-2 thrashing of Norwich and after 30 minutes were nine shots to one up on their hosts, Georginio Wijnaldum pulling the strings, while some Ayoze Perez puppetry had custodian Costel Pantillimon at full stretch once more.
Things looked grave for the hosts when Ola Toivonen and John O’Shea were taken off with injuries, to be replaced by Jermain Defoe and Sebastian Coates, though it was an ironic twist of fate.
It was the latter’s perfectly weighted through ball that invited Steven Fletcher, responsible for Sunderland’s solitary shot, to make a run, goading Coloccini into an over-exuberant shoulder charge, which sent the forward flying.
Johnson joy with spot-kick conversion
With the centre back dismissed for a straight red, Adam Johnson subsequently buried into the bottom corner, as Sunderland took the lead completely against the run of the play, right on the stroke of half time.
Moments earlier, Wijnaldum had an appeal for a penalty turned down, leaving Newcastle boss Steve McClaren remonstrating until the half time whistle and beyond.
A game of two halves
On a day where the clocks went back one hour, Sunderland’s second half performance could easily have been from a different decade, as Allardyce’s side switched roles with their Northeast counterparts.
Johnson, buoyed from his goal and effortlessly effusive was relishing responsibility, time and again launching attacks and taking initiative.
Pantillimon twice thwarted visiting strikes with superb saves to keep Sunderland in the game before the hosts struck again.
A sweeping corner to the back post was met with a Yann M’Vila sweetly struck volley, only for Billy Jones, following in to bundle over the line.
Responding swiftly, it was Wijnaldum initiating a one-two on the edge of the area only to see his shot well-saved, before Johnson rattled the bar at the other end.
With McClaren’s men trying in vain to find a way back, over-committing cost them. Defoe led a surging counter through the middle and to his surprise found Younes Kaboul to his left, though he need not have worried. His cushioned cross was almost David Beckham-esque as Fletcher crept in at the far post to round off the scoring.
A pulsating match from start to finish as the Black Cats clipped the Magpies wings, bringing them back down to earth in the Premier League with an almighty crash.
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