On this day in 2013, Paolo Di Canio got his knees dirty as he celebrated Sunderland’s first win at St James’ Park in 13 years.
The lads dominated from the first whistle, ending their slump of nine games without a win and somewhat justifying the sacking of Di Canio’s predecessor, Martin O’Neill. The Mags had been warned about their behaviour pre-match, with many expected to taunt Di Canio’s political ideologies with fascist salutes.
However, they had nothing to taunt about. Stephane Sessegnon put the lads ahead after 27 minutes, prompting the Italian to leap into the air and passionately pump his fists.
Despite struggling all season, the effort put in by the likes of Sessegnon, Seb Larsson and Danny Graham (who could have won a penalty after being pulled back by Steven Taylor) was refreshing to see, and gave us all hope of a new dawn under an unlikely manager.
The game was pretty end-to-end in reality, but Newcastle never looked like troubling the ever-reliable Simon Mignolet. They thought they’d finally scored when Cisse found the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside. It was a dubious decision to say the least- it looked like Carlos Cuellar was playing the striker onside from a free kick.
Sunderland fans would point to the referee’s decision not to award Graham a penalty in the first half, and claim that the sides had one poor decision each.
The lads’ second goal came in the 74th minute, on the counter attack after soaking up pressure for the majority of the second half. A curled shot was enough to beat Rob Elliot, who’d replaced Tim Krul during the game, and sent di Canio into delirium. He sprinted down the touchline towards the Sunderland fans, and slid on his knees- ruining his suit and creating that instantly-iconic image.
The game was well and truly killed off by David Vaughan when the substitute smashed one straight into the top corner. It sparked even more crazy celebrations, with the coaching staff and all the players burying Di Canio.
The new gaffer’s name rang around St James’ long after the final whistle- a sentence nobody could have expected to say going into the match.
