Sunderland climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 4-0 win at home to 10-man fellow strugglers Cardiff City yesterday.
Connor Wickham headed northeast side Sunderland, who began the game at the bottom of the table, into a 28th-minute lead at the Stadium of Light
The deadlock-breaking goal arrived thanks to some abject defending from the visitors.
Photo: Reuters
Former Sunderland forward Fraizer Campbell missed an attempted clearing header from Seb Larsson’s corner, allowing the ball across the six-yard area to the far post. Wickham comfortably held off a challenge from defender Kevin Theophile-Catherine to send a looping header over Whittingham on the line and into the opposite far corner.
The match turned decisively in favor of the home side on the stroke of half-time.
Wickham burst clear and was bearing down on goal when his shirt was tugged by Cardiff center-back Juan Cala, whose poor back-pass had let him in.
Phil Dowd played an initial advantage, but when Wickham, who had stayed on his feet and not gone down, was forced wide and saw his cross blocked, the referee blew for a penalty and sent Cala off.
Fabio Borini, as he had done in Sunderland’s shock win over Chelsea, scored from the spot and Sunderland were 2-0 up at the break.
Emanuele Giaccherini put the result beyond doubt by making it 3-0 in the 76th minute, before Wickham headed in his second goal four minutes from time.
Sunderland’s victory saw Gus Poyet’s side move above Norwich, who dropped into the relegation zone on goal difference, with a game in hand on the teams around them at the foot of the table.
Given their goal-difference, they are effectively three points adrift of safety with just two games remaining. They make an immediate return to the northeast of England next week against out of form Newcastle United, before finishing the campaign at home to Chelsea on May 11.
An elated Wickham told the BBC: “I’m over the moon. I can’t ask for much more.”
“We’ve got fighters in the dressing room. We’ve got determination and grit and that’s why we’re doing well lately. Hopefully, this will give us a boost,” Wickham said.
“We’re out of the relegation zone and we’ll keep fighting to stay there,” he added.
Defeat plunged Cardiff to the bottom, two points shy of safety with two games to play.
Yesterday’s other Premier League matches could have a huge bearing on the outcome of the title race.
At Anfield, leaders Liverpool were to face second-placed Chelsea knowing victory could see them go eight points clear of Jose Mourinho’s men with two games to play as they seek to become English champions for the first time since 1990.
Third-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand, were looking to maintain the pressure on the top two away to south London side Crystal Palace in the third of yesterday’s Premier League matches.
Arsenal are scheduled to play ninth-placed Newcastle today.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
RSS