Sunderland off bottom with victory
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SUNDERLAND registered its first English Premier League win of the season by beating local rival Newcastle United 3-0 at home to move off the bottom of the table yesterday.
It was a huge boost for new manager Sam Allardyce in only his second match in charge since replacing Dick Advocaat and set a new record for the fixture in giving Sunderland its sixth successive derby victory.
The visitors, who had been on top in the first half, had captain Fabricio Coloccini sent off just before the interval when he conceded the penalty from which Adam Johnson scored the opening goal.
Just after Newcastle vainly claimed a penalty at one end, Coloccini was judged to have denied a clear goalscoring opportunity by shouldering striker Steven Fletcher off the ball and Johnson drove his spot-kick low into the corner of the net.
Billy Jones added the second in the 64th minute by touching in a volley by Yann M’Vila and with Newcastle’s 10 men wilting, Johnson hit the bar and Fletcher’s late volley completed their misery.
That third strike meant Sunderland moved above its neighbor on goal difference into 18th place while Aston Villa fell to bottom spot, two hours after sacking manager Tim Sherwood.
“This was quite an achievement considering the low ebb we’re in at the moment, facing a rival with the extra pressure of having won the last five derbies,” Allardyce told the BBC.
“Everyone’s done a job — the players on the pitch and me, tactically setting them out. We had some good fortune for the first goal and we took advantage of it. It’s the first good weekend the fans have had this season.
“It’s a big victory and we can all look forward to next week. Hopefully this is the start of us getting out of trouble.”
Allardyce sympathized with Newcastle, whom he managed in 2007-8, over the red card, suggesting: “I think a penalty’s enough (punishment)”.
His opposite number Steve McClaren, however, felt the penalty was “absolutely ridiculous”.
“We were the better side by a distance,” McClaren said. “We controlled it, created chances and never looked like giving away anything at the back. Even with 10 men in the second half we still controlled it. The defining moments were two refereeing decisions he got wrong.”
On Saturday, bitter rivals Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho had wildly contrasting afternoons as Arsenal went top of the league and champion Chelsea lost again with its manager being sent off.
Wenger, once dubbed “a specialist in failure” by the Chelsea boss, punched the air in delight as Arsenal beat Everton 2-1 at a rain-lashed Emirates Stadium.
Mourinho, however, failed to show up at his post-match news conference after the Stamford Bridge club slumped to sixth from bottom following a 1-2 defeat at West Ham United.
On another bleak day for Chelsea it finished with 10 men after having Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic sent off. The mood of the visitors was not helped at a wet Upton Park when Cesc Fabregas had a first-half goal harshly disallowed for offside.
Arsenal won its fourth successive league match after headers from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny in a three-minute spell in the first half helped it go top for the first time since February 2014. It has 22 points from 10 games and will stay at the summit until at least yesterday when Manchester City, second on 21, was playing Manchester United, fourth on 19, at Old Trafford.
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