PL2: SUNDERLAND 3 NORWICH 1
New signing Juan Angulo played his first minutes for the Lads as Sunderland went three unbeaten at Eppleton CW as they dismantled 10 man Norwich in the Premier League 2.
First half goals from Jocelin Ta Bi and Tom Proctor were only matched by a Luke Towler strike. Before a second half red card for the Norwich goalscorer left the visitors unable to stop the Lads scoring a third when Jaydon Jones curled in a strike in the final 10 minutes.
Sunderland went into the game off the back of a thumping win against Ipswich. This time their East Anglian rivals, Norwich City came up to the North East.
Prior to the game The Canaries sat in 3rd place in the Premier League 2, unbeaten with 2 wins and 1 draw. The young Black Cats sat only a point behind them and were unbeaten at home in their opening 2 games.
New signing, Juan Angulo made his first appearance for the Lads while Jocelin Ta Bi was also in the starting XI. Timur Tutierov and Jenson Jones also started after being an unused substitute on Wednesday for Sunderland vs AZ Alkmaar.
Romain Mundle was in attendance with his brother Rio playing for Norwich. Florent Ghisolfi was also there to asses the youngsters.
With very little to separate the sides in the opening 15 minutes, it took a penalty to see the home side take the lead. When Jaydon Jones was taken down in the box, Ta Bi stepped up and buried the spot kick into the bottom right corner.
With less than 20 minutes played Sunderland should have doubled their lead. Proctor won the ball back from a goal kick and was one-on-one with Luis Lines in goal. He had the chance to square the ball to Angulo but refused the invitation and his strike was saved.
However, Sunderland did get their second goal on the half hour mark a ball round the corner by Jaydon Jones found Jocelin Ta Bi in space on the left flank. He delayed his cross and ran it to the by-line before cutting it back to Proctor who hit it first time. The keeper got a hand to it but the power was too much for him and it dropped into the net.
Deep in additional time, the visitors got one back. A cross into the box wasn’t dealt with by the Sunderland backline and it eventually fell to Luke Towler after a deflected clearance. His first time strike was rifled into the corner and despite the best attempts of Joe Cowan he couldn’t steer it round the post to earn the Canaries a way back into the game.
Norwich almost saw themselves on level terms just before the hour mark. Alan Domeracki’s strike from distance had Cowan beaten but it arrowed past the post. But with 25 minutes to play, Norwich were down to ten men. A second yellow for Luke Towler for pulling Jaydon Jones was enough for Dale Baines to send him for an early shower.
And with less than 10 minutes remaining, Jaydon Jones cemented the three points for the home side. A run into the box was well found by Charlie Dinsdale and Jaydon Jones calmly curled the ball into the bottom left corner.
FT 3-1
Next time out Sunderland play Accrington Stanley in the EFL Trophy and return to league action the 10th October when they play Arsenal U21s. Norwich play Exeter City U21s on the 28th September
