Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle

A late Demba Ba own goal gave Sunderland a deserved point against 10-man Newcastle in a tense encounter at the Stadium of Light.

The visitors had the perfect start after just three minutes when, after Ba forced black cats keeper Simon Mingolet into a save to set the ball up, Yohan Cabaye produced a clinical finish from close range.

The toon were then reduced to 10 men when Tiote was debatably sent off for foul play on Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher, similar to the 1-1 draw on Tyneside in March but in role reversal.

Despite their numerical advantage, the home side's response was at best average and didn't really threaten the visitor's goal - the most threatening being a Craig Gardner free kick not long before the interval.

Even with one less man on the pitch, the magpies looked far too comfortable in protecting their early lead and could have scored more themselves when Ba tried an acrobatic volley from a few yards out.

Sunderland finally started to build some momentum in the second half and began to dominate terroitory and possession, but still not seriously troubling Tim Krul thanks to some poor finishing in the final third.
 

Even so, Alan Pardew's men deserve great credit for holding out their lead for so long as they limited the pressure piled on them by getting bodies in the way at every opportunity, including an oustanding and inspiring performance from defender Fabricio Coloccini.
 

Martin O'Neill brought on Louis Saha for the poor Stephane Sessegnon, who had the best chances, including a shot which hit the side netting as the game progressed to the final ten minutes, with the home team still pressing for a leveller.

 

But after the home side were held out for so long, there was a sense of inevitability about the equaliser. An 86th minute Sebastian Larsson free kick crossed its way into the penalty box, with defender John O'Shea heading the ball towards Krul, but Ba's deflection decieved the keeper and rolled into the net for 1-1.

The goal came as a big relief for what had been a frustrating 86 mintues for the home crowd, who grew anxious and tense, which was capped off when Steven Taylor was brought on for the injured Coloccini not long before the leveller.

The black cats still pressed for a winner afterwards but the visitors battling defensive work rate easily merited a point and with the home side's intense pressure in the second half the game deservedly ended honours even.

Man City 3-0 Sunderland

Manchester City kept their first clean sheet of the season with an emphatic and fully deserved win over Sunderland.

Aleksander Kolarov opened the scoring with a fine free kick after Sunderland defender Carlos Cuellar needlessly fouled Carlos Tevez just outside the penalty area.

Sergio Aguero, coming back from an injury received in City's 3-2 win over Southampton at the start of the season, scored his first goal of the season to make it 2-0. The scoring was complete with James Milner's 89th mintues free kick, with some assistance from black cats midfielder Craig Gardner, coming off his head in the process.

It was City's first clean sheet since beating Newcastle at St James' Park back in May and Roberto Mancini will be delighted with arguably his team's best performance of the season so far as for long periods they were camped in the Sunderland half of the pitch.

It was a perfect start for the Premier League champions on the fourth minute, after Cuellar missed the ball completely and brought down the Argentinian striker, left footed Kolarov stepped up to smash the ball past the helpless Simon Mingolet.

The black cats responded well to going behind initially and had a fair share of the ball along with a few decent chances, including Steven Fletcher's deflected effort which went straight into the hands of City keeper Joe Hart after Stephane Sessegnon's early volley which flew off target.

After half time Sunderland had a good spell where they threatened twice to equalise through Fletcher and once with former City winger Adam Johnson who made a fine run to be one-on-one with Hart but Kolarov, impressive both up front and at the back, put in a professional tackle to remove any danger.

Eventually City settled down and began to dominate possession and territory as they did for much of the first half, with Sunderland struggling to keep up with the host's tempo. It almost seemed inevitable that their breathtaking play, similar to how they played for much of last season, was to be rewarded.

And it came on the 60th minute from Augero after some wonderful build up play involving Kolarov who passed through to the young Argentinian whose fantastic finish was thumped past Mingolet.

By now the game was beyond reach for the visitors, who were the only team to be come away from the Etihad last season with a 3-3 draw after being 3-1 up with minutes remaining, with City surely banking all three points.

But the scoring wasn't over as on the 89th minute Craig Gardner, who had a difficult game in defence dealing with various City players, got his head in the way to try and prevent James Milner's free kick but couldn't stop it summing up Sunderland's afternoon.

City though, will be pleased with this performance as it was the perfect response to the disappointment of the Champions League game midweek and leaves them in great spirits going into the international break.

Introduction

Hello people, I am Michael Bowers and I'm starting a blog to write posts on what I love most - football (I know, typical of lads)! Although strangely enough, three years ago I wasn't into football whatsoever as I felt people were paid ridiculous amounts of money just to kick a ball around a field when I thought anyone could just as easily do it. Whilst I have dramatically changed my view on football, I still feel players wages are outrageous.

 

So what team do I support? I actually have two teams - Sunderland and Blackpool. My family are big black cats fans and my mother particularly loved Sunderland for a long time, so it's in the blood really. As for Blackpool, since they were relegated from the Barclay's Premier League at the end of the 2010-2011 season, I became an enthusiastic follower for two reasons: the manager and the style of their football, particularly when they were playing in the top flight and they looked as though they loved it, an absolute pleasure for me to watch.

 

But I generally love to watch games. But don't you just hate it when you have a boring 0-0 draw and at full time you feel as though you have just completed unpleasant homework?! Games that are tense, exciting and full of drama make me remember why I love football.

 

But I hope you enjoy my posts and feel free to give any constructive criticism on how I can make my posts better for you to view. :D