The much anticipated Tyne Wear Derby provided good entertainment in what was a tense battle. Both teams were missing key players, and the home fans were happy to see Andy Carroll absent from the visitors’ line up, given his performace at St. James' in the Oct. 31 clash. Sunderland were without Welbeck and their influential skipper Lee Cattermole. Overall, the home team were sharper in the first half, coming forward well, with Newcastle threatening on the break.
The game changed drastically early in the second half when a Barton corner from the right was met by Ameobe and the ball tumbled forward to Kevin Nolan, who cheekily back-heeled into the net. The Geordies celebrated wildly, and to be fair put in a good shift in the second half, with Sunderland losing their shape, and being restricted to hopeful balls forward. Some of the home fans were on their way home from the SSOL late in added time when the industrious Henderson pushed the ball sideways to goal machine Phil Bardsley who let fly just like at Aston Villa, but this time Steve Harper pushed the ball out to Gyan who instinctively chested home into the top corner for our equaliser.
Overall the game was pretty even, with Sunderland shading the first half on chances and Newcastle dominating the second period. I have a sneaky respect for what Alan Pardew has achieved across the Tyne, and he may yet prove a decent choice if Hughton had to go, but to be honest the whole game was overshadowed in retrospect by the transfer request from Darren Bent, coming soon after the final whistle.
No wonder the star striker looked a bit disengaged during the 90. Another one bites the dust; surely not quite the song that Bruce wanted to play the end of the game.
Comments
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Posted by Matthew on 01/19/2011
The game was pretty even?!
We outplayed you for the majority of it and you won't find many on Sunderland messgaeboards that disagree with me.
All that talk of revenge and it took a fluke goal in injury time to come close to getting a goal.
A team full of cowards.
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Posted by Charlie on 01/19/2011
HAHAHA Sad stuff really. What game were you watching???
You were dominated from start to finish despite receiving 15 fouls to our 5.
And to say in that ever so condescening fashion that " the groedies celrbated wildly" is to ignore your own managers orgasm on the side of the pitch.
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Posted by A Starkey on 01/19/2011
I think Bent has been talking to Villa for quite some time ...everything just happened so quickly. Maybe the boardroom at SOL knew something about it also??
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Posted by Curbside on 01/19/2011
I for one agree with the article and disagree with comments,
As the article and the opta statistics suggest the game was pretty even.
Although Sunderland had more shots and more shots on target which in truth wasn't difficult as Newcastle only managed two shots on target!
Newcastle shaded possession, this I would suggest was due to Sunderland employing a direct style of play, being more direct than they have been all season but I personally didn't mind putting Newcastle under the sort of pressure that they often employ against us.
To suggest Newcastle played well is very much a matter of opinion.
The physical tactics that Newcastle have been employing since their relegation season were apparent again, I would imagine many of the football supporters who have seen Newcastle play against their team will have felt less than entertained.
I was pleased that Sunderland without any players known for a physical style, matched up against Nolan, Smith, Barton, Williamson, Ameobi and Best etc.
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Lars Knutsen was born in Sunderland of Norwegian parents across the Wear from the SSOL back when shipbuilding not car manufacture was the city’s main industry. His first game was in 1968 and he has followed the Black Cats since then, with great memories of the 1973 FA Cup. He hopes the “yo-yo” days are over and defines supporting a team by whether the result affects your mood (but maybe not in the way portrayed in the book “Fever Pitch”!) so has been cheerful recently. He endured school in Newc**tle, has a Ph.D. in Chemistry, a Professorship at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, and works in the Pharma industry as a consultant Medicinal Chemist.
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