Sunderland’s run of consecutive victories ground to a halt this afternoon losing two one to Manchester City at the SOL. Goals from Elano and Darius Vassell saw off the lads who replied through Dean Whitehead in a match which started slowly but finished franticly.

With Keano hinting midweek that Liam Miller may return to the match day squad I was again frustrated by his absence. The back five remained unchanged, behind a midfield of Richardson, Reid, Whitehead and Chopra. Up front Murphy and Jones.

The lads had the first effort on goal after two minutes when Richardson hit a dipping if somewhat ambitious effort over the cross bar. Kenwyne Jones, as usual, was proving a handful for the city defence and almost got the opener after twenty five minutes. Jones was played in by Richardson and he outpaced and outmuscled Richard Dunne before Joe Hart tipped his shot wide. The resulting corner was headed down into the danger area by Danny Collins but City scrambled the ball clear.

Jones was in the thick of the action again soon after this time setting up a chance for Michael Chopra. Jones got up well against Dunne to lay the ball off but Chopra’s shot was charged down.

The lads then won a free kick in Andy Reid territory just before half time but his effort hit the wall. Man City, with Benjani leading the line offered little going forward -there best football was coming down the left from Petrov. Ireland managed a shot on goal as the first half drew to a close but it was miles over. Other notable incidents in the first half were bookings to Whitehead and Bardsley from picky and poor referee Mike Riley.

One change at half time saw Grant Leadbitter come on for Kieran Richardson with Andy Reid moving onto the left wing. Sunderland continued attacking Man City and got into some dangerous areas but failed to trouble their keeper. One occasion saw Murphy beat two defenders and instead of shooting he tried to beat a third. Murphy did have an effort on goal soon after though and forced a corner as Richard Dunne managed to get a block in. Reid took the corner and found Jones whose powerful header was about a yard wide.

Murphy was then replaced by Carlos Edwards which allowed Michael Chopra to play in his preferred and best position up front. Chopra who in fairness showed some decent touches playing on the right wing won a free kick on the edge of the area when he was tripped by Corluka. Leadbitter took the free kick but it was catching practice for Joe Hart.

The final ten minutes of the half saw the game really burst into life helped somewhat by the incompetency of the officials. Sturridge, on as a substitute found his way into the box one on one with Gordon. As he was about to shoot a few bodies from both teams seemed to lunge for the ball, Sturridge went down and Riley pointed to the spot. Nos to blame according to Riley as he was subsequently booked. Elano stepped up from twelve yards to send Gordon the wrong way and give City the lead. More frustratingly than this is the fact that people who have seen replays of the penalty incident reckon that there was no contact from Nos and that Sturridge tripped himself up.

We equalised almost straight away from the restart and again the goal was created from the left foot of Andy Reid. However goal scorer Dean Whitehead will rightfully take the plaudits as he got on the end of Reid’s cross to volley into the top corner. Cracking finish.

Man City then fired a warning shot when Petrov volleyed over when it looked easier to score. Then Darius Vassell nicked all three points when he went through and scuffed the ball past Gordon which trickled into the bottom corner. It was a right fluke and if he’d made better contact with his strike Gordon may have saved it. This goal killed of the lads as City kept the ball well for the four minutes of injury time.

With Bolton and Fulham both winning it’s a timely reminder that we’re not quite safe yet. Hopefully this will be the kick up the arse we need to get all three points next weekend. FTM.

Final Score: Sunderland 1 Manchester City 2

ALS Man of the Match : Kenwyne Jones

Aidan Crowe

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