Sunderland were sat 18th in the table with three games remaining. Desperate for a result with our backs to the wall, we welcomed Chelsea to the Stadium of Light for a 3pm kick-off on Saturday the 7th of May. Sunderland: Mannone, Yedlin, Kaboul, Kone, van Aanholt, Cattermole, Kirchhoff, M'Vila, Borini, Khazri, Defoe
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Willian, Fabregas, Obi Mikel, Matic, Hazard, Diego Costa Thirteen minutes into the game, some link-up play between Hazard and Diego Costa on the left meant the ball found Cahill in the box. Yedlin was able to block his cross, only sending it into the path of Costa. Unmarked, the Spanish international tucked the ball into the far corner of the goal to open the scoring. The lads responded well to going a goal behind, though, as a beautiful ball from Lee Cattermole was headed onto the post by Defoe. The flag was up for offside anyway, but this was a sign of things to come. The lads worked their way into a scoring position time after time following this, but it wasn't until the 41st minute that we'd find a breakthrough. A free-kick about five yards inside Chelsea's half, over on the left, was sent into the box by Van Aanholt. Mikel responded, heading the ball towards the sky. Kone backed off and was able to send it back in before it was headed clear, sending the ball into the path of the oncoming Khazri. About twenty yards from goal, the Tunisian struck the ball perfectly, soaring through a sea of players inside the box and into the back of the net past a helpless Courtois. The beauty of this goal is best captured from the camera angle behind our number twenty two, but nothing could match being there as we emphatically drew level. 1-1. Not content with being level at the break, Gus Hiddink's side made their way up the field; Matic slid the ball into Hazard in the centre circle, who fired the ball towards the left hand side. A rare occurrence under Sam Allardyce, our defenders found themselves incoherently scattered about. Yedlin was unable to win a header and Kone was in no-mans-land as Cesar Azpilicueta nodded the ball into the path of Matic. The Serbian took the ball in his stride before sliding it through the legs of Mannone, cancelling out one of the most impressive equalizers ever scored at the SoL, seconds before the whistle signalling for the end of the first half. The first twenty two minutes of the second half did not disappoint (for a neutral) as both teams looked to add to the scoresheet. After yet another failed attack, the ball fell to M'Vila on the left, who slid a ball into the path of Van Aanholt. The Dutch full-back took his time before cutting it back to Borini on the edge of the box. The Italian took a touch to set himself before driving the ball towards goal. Courtois dove down to his right to make the save, but only managed to slow the momentum of the ball as it found the back of the net. Twenty two minutes of relentless effort had paid off as Borini levelled the scoring for the lads. Wheeling away with his iconic celebration, the SoL erupted in relief. and sang our number nine's name. 2-2. We didn't stop there though. Three minutes later, Yedlin skipped past his man and delivered the ball into the box. After taking a slight deflection from a blue in the box, the ball fell to the man we all hoped it would. After taking the ball down and turning with ease, Jermain Defoe rifled the ball into the bottom left, as the SoL experienced another deafening moment of joy. The tables had turned as all the lads had to do was see out that game. That remaining half hour was the best home atmosphere I've ever witnessed and was a testament to what Sunderland fans can create when given something to shout about. 3-2. John Terry received a second yellow seconds before the referee blew his whistle for the last time that day. A day that saw Norwich lose and Newcastle draw, sending us out of the top three. Whenever I get asked about my favourite Sunderland game or memory, this game is always one that's in the conversation, usually just second to Everton at home days later! Coming from behind (twice), lifting ourselves out of the bottom three, causing an upset and some simply astounding strikes, that game had everything and goes down as one of my most memorable. We went on to secure safety three days later at home to Everton (probably the only game more memorable to me than this one) and drew away to Watford after this following a great run under Allardyce. Looking back at a game like this always leads to those 'what if's'- what if Big Sam had just stayed? What if we'd gone on to sign M'Vila instead of Ndong? Whilst none of us can answer that, we can only look forward to memorable days at the SoL returning once more, and getting back to where we belong...
