Martin O’Neill took his Sunderland side down to London for his first real test as our gaffer. The Blackburn game was a home banker and we won it, the Spurs game was a write off and we lost it. Tonight was one of those games that could go either way and they are exactly the sort of games he was brought here to win.
An injury to Connor Wickham forced MON to reintroduce Nicklas Bendtner, a first start under the new manager. In midfield, captain Cattermole rather controversially returned in the place of Jack Colback, who had an exceptional game on Sunday. Phil Bardsley shook off a knock so Rico remained on the left wing.
The game didn’t get off to the greatest of starts as David Vaughan almost played a QPR striker through on goal within ten seconds, luckily Titus was on hand to clear up. In fact, Titus and his mate Wesley had to be on hand for pretty much the first ten minutes whilst we were bombarded with pressure from the home side. Despite several promising free kicks and crosses we flippantly cleared our lines, much to the displeasure of the home crowd.
We gained a small foothold and on the quarter hour mark we should have gone ahead, a Seb free kick found Bendtner unmarked, four yards from goal with the keeper to beat… he headed it against the post. I couldn’t believe it, it was harder to miss than score – ‘oh here we go’ I thought to myself, ‘another Bendtner master class in how to win friends and influence people’. That was until nineteen minutes when an in-swinging Richardson corner was met by the head of Nick who smashed it into the top corner past the helpless and hideous Paddy Kenny. Get in…
Less than a minute later we nearly doubled the lead, a burst forward from Richardson forced a three-on-two situation at the back, instead of playing on of our two strikers in, Rico smashed one just wide of the left hand post.
We lost our grip again, Shaun Wright-Phillips was torturing Bardo and QPR managed to win a fair few free kicks and corners again. Much to their frustration, Bramble, Brown and Bendtner were on hand to clear our lines with ease.
QPR then began to look vulnerable just before the break. Sess found himself in space once more and after a jinking run had his powerful effort deflected over the bar. Paddy Kenny then cleared the ball into the onrushing Bendtner’s face though luckily for him it disappeared out for a throw. On the stroke of half time, a Bendtner shot struck the arm of a QPR centre half, there was little he could do and despite several calls for a penalty from our players and fans, it was rightly waved away.
Thankfully for us the home side took off their danger man, Wright-Phillips and replaced him with Taarabt at the break. Not long after the restart Titus was on hand to save us again with a diving header off the line, it was heroic and looked to change our luck. A minute later, a clearing Cattermole header was too high for Bendtner, but the Dane managed to force the Rangers’ centre back into a fumbled header sending Sess through on goal to round the keeper and slot home for two nil. Magic.
Straight after we had one of those all too rare moments, an injured referee. Andre Mariner had to be replaced by his fourth official, Stuart Atwell, well known for being the worst referee in the English professional game. Oh crap.
The game began to open up at both ends and things were getting interesting. I was just thinking to myself what a solid display we were having whenever Lee Cattermole allowed his man to drift unmarked into the danger area and fire a low cross for Helguson to convert. It was a game changer and we began to shit ourselves.
We had completely lost the plot; a great display had turned into a frantic and panicked performance all of a sudden. Three minutes later a ball came into the box, Bardo made a pathetic attempt to head it clear, allowing his man to put it back across goal and Jamie Mackie nodded home. Oh bollocks, we had really messed this up. Almost compounding our misery was Sess who lunged in two footed from behind on Joey Barton, as we’d all love to do, but escaped only with a booking whenever red seemed more likely.
A few minutes later Taarabt forced a good save from Westwood and it was time for some substitutions. The unusually quiet David Vaughan was replaced by Jack Colback and the brilliant-at-times Larsson was replaced by Gardener. I was perplexed by the changes but really I should have trusted that Wee Martin knew what he was doing. A couple of minutes later it was Gardner who found himself with time and space inside the box, his excellent shot was saved by Kenny. Soon after we had a free kick in an identical position to the one Seb scored against Blackburn, only this time, Seb was on the bench. Up stepped Gardener whose poor effort was blocked by the wall. At least we had now steadied the ship a little and quietened down the vociferous home crowd.
Lee Cattermole got his obligatory yellow card for a pretty horrible challenge on Taarabt before we broke up the field again, this time Bardo cut inside to force another world class save from Kenny. From the resulting corner, Rico swung one onto the head of Wes Brown and it went in off the underside of the bar in the last minute. What a feeling and you could see exactly what it meant to the players.
We hung on for the six minutes of added time (where did that come from) to record a precious away win. A great three points when we looked as though we would be left to rue our lost two goal lead. It really was a strong performance and despite a lacklustre ten minutes there really were no poor displays tonight.
Final score: 2-3
ALS Man of the Match: I’m really tempted to give it to Cattermole who put in an assured and commanding display, but I won’t. I’m also really tempted to give it to Bendtner who put in a performance I honestly didn’t think he was capable of; holding the ball up, getting stuck in, running hard and creating chances, he really looked like a man who wants to change his ways. But tonight’s honour can only go to our little magician, Sess who held the ball up, ran at defenders with electrifying results and was generally our heartbeat.
Adam Capper
An alternative match report…
Forty-five pounds for a ticket?! Yes, forty-five. Four, five. Each. In the last week before Christmas when, to be honest, I could still do with buying more presents, this was a big ask. Anyway, rather than prudence I chose extravagance and decided to make a week of it. Well, a few days in London would be perfect for Christmas shopping and if I happened to catch a game while I was there, even better.
We arrived in Shepherd’s Bush early, having tested a few of the capital’s drinking and eating establishments with great success. A walk down a 1970’s street proved pointless (or at least publess) so we diverted into the ground early for a pre-match beverage or two (when we lost a couple of limbs paying for the first round, it quickly became one).
The atmosphere in the narrow corridor of a bar was a little subdued at first but soon lifted with the arrival of the folk who had travelled on buses down from the north east. Their level of excitement and inebriation was as you would expect and thoughts turned to the Martin O’Neill revolution that was surely set to continue here tonight.
Around 1,500 fans were housed behind the goal in the upper tier of my garden shed and the atmosphere was very positive. We could sense a confidence in the team from the last two performances and this itself lifted the fans’ belief. I presume we won the toss as the teams changed ends and the lads would kick towards us in the first half. Colback had been dropped to accommodate Cattermole and Bendtner replaced Wickham. Clearly the young lads hadn’t been kicking enough wing mirrors off cars in the Bigg Market to keep their place. Well, you can’t buy that kind of experience.
Bendtner soon looked a threat and hit the post with a very good headed effort from a difficult, bouncing cross. It didn’t matter for long as we soon took the lead. Kieran Richardson, much maligned by some of our fans (which completely baffles me), delivered a fantastic corner and Bendtner lost his sluggish marker to head home at the near post. Bendtner looks class at times, usually when we pass to him rather than hit high balls in his general direction. One thing he isn’t is a grafter though and it remains to be seen what the Sunderland fans lasting opinion of him will be. Goals pay the rent though, Big Man.
Early in the second half, their so-called centre-half completely missed a header and Sess was through on goal. Now I’ve been waiting twenty-odd years to see what happened next. Sess charged towards goal with defenders hot on his heels , reached the area and looked set to pull the trigger. He faked a shot, which Paddy Kenny is still looking for, and rolled the ball home into the empty net. Pure class, confidence, ability and flamboyance. I’ve seen this on the TV many times in but I can’t remember ever seeing a Sunderland player finish with such nonchalance.
At this point my mate insightfully predicted that QPR had ‘gone’. This obviously signalled a huge home comeback, to the delight of the huge home fan in the stand nearest to us. Their two quickfire goals were avoidable and raised the roof at Loftus Road. The big lad had his shirt off and was taunting the away fans who, despite the shock, were in fact still singing.
Pressure from QPR and fast breaks from SAFC were now the pattern. It looked as though it could go either way. Perhaps due to a new confidence and positivity though, it was Sunderland who nicked the winner. With eighty-nine minutes on the clock, Rico whipped in another great corner and Wes Brown decided he’d be responsible for a goal at the right end for a change. His flick-on rocketed past Kenny and the defender on the line couldn’t keep it out. The fat QPR lad was now the target of some light-hearted banter, as you’d expect. To his credit he whipped his shirt off again and took it like a fan. Good lad.
I like to think that the defender on the line was a certain JB7, and that it was an own-goal, but you can’t have everything. The game was ours, the night was a success. Money well spent.
MOM: Sessegnon/Richardson
By Steve Newell
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