Sunderland came from a goal behind to beat Wigan 4-2 and secure a much needed and first win in ten attempts at the SOL on Saturday afternoon. The game which was a dull affair in the opening forty five minutes exploded into life in the second half with six goals including two crackers from match winner Jordan Henderson.

Despite last week’s defeat, Steve Bruce named an unchanged side, with Mignolet in goal behind a back four of Bardsley, Turner, Onuoha and Elmo. In midfield Henderson, Cattermole, Colback and Sessegnon looked to feed Welbeck and Gyan up front.

The first half was pretty poor as two nervous sides played out a bit of a stalemate. Worryingly and almost predictably we lost two players to injury early on when firstly Bardsley was stretchered off to be replaced by Ferdinand before Welbeck pulled up and was replaced by Malbranque. Bardsley was down for a long time and was stretchered off with an oxygen mask on after clashing heads with Onuoha, hopefully he’s ok.

The best chance of the first half was created by Henderson whose inch perfect pass into the feet of Gyan was controlled expertly by the Ghanaian but the striker had one too many touches and was tackled. Onuoha headed over from a set piece in the six minutes of injury time added due to the injuries.

After the break things went from bad to worse when Mohamed Diame who scored a thunderbolt for Wigan in this fixture last season lashed one into the top corner from long range early in the second half.

However, we hit back almost instantly when Gyan headed in before a superbly taken second by Jordan Henderson gave the lads the advantage. Henderson controlled the ball on his chest before volleying into the top corner on his weaker left foot with a great finish. The crowd, who backed the lads to the hilt with great support this afternoon, went wild as did Henderson.

In between both Sunderland goals Asamoah Gyan pulled up chasing a long ball forward and also had to be carried off. It looked like a hamstring injury and considering we now have no fit senior strikers at the club isn’t good news. Gyan was replaced by Muntari as Bruce opted to pair what must be one of the smallest striker forces in Premier League history with Sessegnon and Malbranque up front.

With fifteen minutes to go we were awarded what to be honest was a soft looking penalty when Sessegnon tumbled in the box, but referee Lee Probert owed us after his dreadful performance in our defeat at Stoke earlier this season. Sessegnon stepped up to take the penalty and notch his first goal for Sunderland sending the keeper the wrong way.

Five minutes later and the points were secure when Sessegnon turned provider and fed Henderson on the edge of the box to get his second of the game. Henderson did well to control Sessegnon’s cross and coolly slot the ball past Al Habsi. I’m really pleased for Henderson who was starting to get a bit of stick from some quarters of the crowd which for a youngster in a struggling team was in my opinion unjust given the performances of some more senior players in recent games.

Wigan did have time to get a consolation when Moses squared for Di Santo to tap in from six yards to reduce the deficit. There was obviously a Wigan supporter controlling the scoreboard which changed to show Wigan in the lead 3-2 but this was quickly corrected to an ironic cheer.

Final Score: Sunderland 4 Wigan Athletic 2

ALS Man of the Match: Jordan Henderson

Aidan Crowe

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