Fulham 1-3 Sunderland

Sunderland recorded only their second league victory this season against 10-man Fulham after Brede Hangeland's red card at Craven Cottage.

 

This was an incredible (and vital) win for Martin O'Niell's side, who sat dangerously above the relegation zone with only goal difference keeping them out. Meanwhile Fulham looked to rise up to seventh, just behind Arsenal on goal difference.

 

The game was a dour stalemate for the first 30 mintues with Sunderland mainly keeping out Martin Jol's men. Despite Dimitar Berbatov and Steve Sidwell missing decent chances neither Mark Schwarzer or Simon Mingolet were seriously tested in the opening stages.

 

The match eventually sprang into life with the only talking point of the first half when Hangeland slid into Black Cats captain Lee Cattermole with two feet off the ground. Despite it being an arguably controlled challenge, without a moment of hesitation the referee instantly produced a red card.

 

Even with a man down, Fulham still looked the more dangerous team in the closing moments of a largely forgettable first period.

 

Following half time with the score at 0-0, the game kicked off with an enthralling 45 mintues to follow.

 

After Fulham came incredibly close to scoring themselves by hitting the crossbar, Sunderland provided a perfect counter attack with Adam Johnson setting up Steven Fletcher to score his sixth of the season; having now scored six out of their eight top flight goals .

 

Fulham deservedly levelled on 62 mintues when Mladen Petric fired the ball in past Mingolet from close range just seconds after coming off the bench.

 

However, any Fulham fans' hopes of Petric being an inspiration for a victory were quickly gone. Just minutes later, the visitors hit back with the Cottagers breifly down to nine men as Carlos Cuellar headed the ball in from a corner.

 

And then five mintues afterwards, Stephane Sessegnon scored in spectacular fashion with his first goal in 19 league games with an unstoppable shot from just outside the penalty area, coming off the post in the process.

 

To credit Fulham, even with 10-men and at 3-1 they refused to give up and had two really good chances, both of which Mingolet stopped well from close range to preserve his side's lead.

 

But in the end they were unable to break down Sunderland, who will hope this merited victory will kick start their season.

Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle

A brave display from Newcastle earned them a deserved draw against dominant Liverpool in a thrilling encounter at Anfield.

The magpies went ahead on the 43^rd minute through a magnificent strike from French international Yohan Cabaye not long before half time.

Liverpool deservedly got their equaliser midway through the second period when Suarez broke away from Fabricio Coloccini (who had a hard time dealing with him all afternoon) and produced a moment of individual brilliance to give the home fans hope of finding a winner.

But Brendan Rodgers' team could not find the decisive second goal which would have been cruel on the toon as they were outstanding man to man.

The hosts set their intentions right from the first whistle by inflicting bombardment on the visitor’s net, pinning them in their own half.

Gerrard had an ambitious, if not unintentional, effort from near the half way line which was off target. The closest the reds came to a goal was a shot from Suarez from a tight angle which was easily saved by the largely untroubled Tim Krul.

But as we have seen so often this season Liverpool have been very lacklustre in front of goal and are often dominating teams without drawing first blood.

After bravely absorbing their host’s constant pressure, Newcastle, slightly against the run of play, took the lead in fine style just before the interval.

Fellow Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa twisted and turned around the Liverpool defence with the ball finding Cabaye. From just outside the six yard box, he turned on the spot and fired a wonderful curler past Brad Jones and into the right corner of the goal.

Liverpool started the second half in similar fashion to how they played in the first. But despite their dominance in territory, they struggled to really test the visiting defence.

However on the 65^th minute a long ball from former toon Jose Enrique found the Uruguayan striker Suarez who did well to keep his cool and slot the ball past helpless Krul and into the empty net.

The equaliser had been coming but  afterwards Liverpool were still not creative enough to take the three points.

However they should have gone ahead when after some brilliant skill from Suarez in the penalty area the ball found Jonjo Shelvey who somehow tapped the ball straight into the hands of the Dutch keeper.

Colocini got himself a red card a few minutes from time with a debatably reckless challenge on Suarez, narrowly avoiding contact with his boot held high.

The red card could have inspired the home side who attempted to break down Newcastle. Rahim Sterling took a shot from close range in the closing stages but a heroic block from Steven Taylor sent it out for a corner.

But the terrifically defensive effort from Alan Pardew’s side left them definitely the happier of the two teams at full time.

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