Archive for September, 2010
Sunderland Leave Liverpool With A Point
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Sunderland left Anfield with a point but I can’t help but feel aggrieved that it should have been all three.
Having outclassed Liverpool in their own back yard for large portions of the game ultimately Sunderland’s hard work went unrewarded due to some quite appalling decisions from referee Stuart Attwell.
This was yet another game where we have an incompetent referee and his officials dominating the headlines and taking the plaudits away from a solid Sunderland performance.
Liverpool went ahead from a goal that shouldn’t have been. A goal even ‘freakier’ than Febregas’s lucky effort last week and a hell of a lot more frustrating. After being awarded a free-kick, Sunderland tried to take it quickly only for Attwell to blow his whistle, forcing us to move back a few yards to retake it. It was petty to say the least and the majority of referees would have allowed play to continue but we are talking about Atwell here. The referee responsible for awarding the famous ‘ghost goal’ in the game between Watford and Reading.
When Turner received the ball to retake the free-kick he back-heeled it a few yards, indicating he was leaving it for the keeper to come forward to take it. Torres reacted, ran onto the ball, dribbled towards goal unopposed and played it across to Kuyt who passed the ball into the net.
The referee waved away the Sunderland protests and chose to ask his assistant for his opinion. Why? Because Attwell hadn’t even seen the incident! He ran away from the ball (probably whistling the tune of You’ll Never Walk Alone) and when he eventually turned his back to play, Torres was through on goal with Turner left stood scratching his head (what the…?). His assistant bottled it as it was at Anfield and by the looks of it was scared of ruining the crowds celebrations. The goal stood.
The FA have since released a statement explaining the goal was perfectly legal and “within the rules of the game”. However, they failed to mention that it was completely unsporting and quite frankly a complete joke of a goal. It was a clear gift to Liverpool, they were given a handicap. Had Sunderland scored a goal like this I am confident it would have been disallowed. But this is Liverpool after all.
It’s also important to add that Torres wasn’t even ten yards back when the “free-kick” was taken. But like I said, Attwell wasn’t even looking.
I know Liverpool fans may argue that it’s payback for the beachball goal we scored last season and “what goes around, comes around” but the fact of the matter is Darren Bent did not cheat to score his goal at the Stadium of Light. In this instance; Torres and Kuyt were unsporting and their disrespectful attitude should be remembered when they return to the Stadium of Light later this season. They, along with the referee and his official, cheated us. But it didn’t stop there.
Sunderland continued on, playing some great football and crisp passing interplay. We looked a cut above Liverpool and it was only a matter of time before we would score. The opportunity eventually came when Attwell awarded us a penalty after Poulsen handled the ball in the Liverpool area. Bent stepped up and narrowly scraped the ball past Reina. 1-1. Game on.
Sunderland pressed on and we were comfortably looking the better side, we scored our second goal shortly after half-time. It was Bent’s second of the game and his sixth of the season, heading home an inch-perfect Nedum Onuoha cross.
The referee was not to be upstaged though and decided to play on when Danny Wellbeck was blatantly fouled by Reina after pushing the ball past him in the box. It was a certain penalty but again, this is Liverpool and this is the inconsistent Stuart Attwell we’re talking about.
Amazingly the drama didn’t end there, Attwell then decided Gerrard’s elbow smash to Wellbecks face was fair game and allowed the Liverpool skipper off with only a yellow card (that’s nice of you Attwell). We saw Turner sent off for an elbow last season away to Man. City. He was watching the ball all the way but the referee Andre Marriner (yet another plonker) believed his challenge was a dangerous one and therefore showed him the red. However, this season, similar challenge, actually…what am I saying? It was a hell of a lot worse and Gerrard is shown a yellow card.
Where’s the consistency??? If the referees can’t do their job, let technology do it for them!
As the game went on Liverpool began to get back into it and Gerrard eventually scored an equaliser. The lad shouldn’t have even been on the pitch.
It ended 2-2 but the ref totally ruined the game. If he had done his job properly Liverpool should not have been allowed their first goal, Wellbeck should have been given a penalty and Gerrard should have been shown a straight red.
Still, the lads done us proud, we played well and that’s all we can ask for.
Next up Man. Utd. I can’t wait. We’re due a home win against them.
Sunderland Outplayed And Outfought By West Ham
Posted by: | CommentsWest Ham were in charge for most of the first half and deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute from a Piquionne strike. Sunderland seemed to wake up after the goal and piled on the pressure, resulting in a quick equaliser. Gyan dispatched a Jordan Henderson corner in the 41st minute.
West Ham continued to dominate the game in the second half and at one stage put together a string of what seemed to be several hundred passes without Sunderland coming even close to sniffing the ball. At this stage we would have been better off sneaking our midfield off the park for a quick breather and replacing them with a set of police cones.
Riveros was knacked.
Henderson was chasing shadows and Wellbeck looked as though he’d accidentally wandered onto the pitch after going out for a late night stroll.
West Ham were taking the mick on the pitch and their fans responded with the standard ole’s. Fair play to the West Ham fans, they brought a few hundred up..ok some will have been based in the area but still, it was a Tuesday and they haven’t had the best of starts to a season. However, after seeing them the other night they look a lot stronger than I expected them to be and certainly better than their league standing suggests.
Barrera and Parker looked very good. Parker was ruling the midfield and Barrera had a classy game, attacking with skill and pace. When Obinna scored West Ham’s second goal of the game to put them 2-1 up, I just couldn’t see us getting back into it.
We were lethargic. Too many of our players were uninterested and we were struggling to create opportunities in the final third. Elmo’s crossing in particular was inaccurate and unintelligent. His long balls weren’t working so you’d think he’d review what he was doing and mix it up a little but nothing changed and he continued to smash the ball over the heads of Gyan and Bent at every time of asking.
Sunderland had opportunities to level near to the end of the game. The best chance falling to Malbranque after being fed a ball by Wellbeck but Steed took it slightly wide making it easy for the keeper to save. I think Wellbeck would have been better off taking it on himself but he wasn’t at the races on Tuesday and will have to pick himself up for an important game on Saturday. Much like the rest of them.
The best side won. We move on.
Justice for Sunderland Against Arsenal
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Justice was served at the near death in the Stadium of Light yesterday as Darren Bent smashed the ball into the back of the Arsenal net to earn Sunderland a deserved draw.
Arsene Wenger was left seething, complaining his Arsenal side were robbed of victory after referee Phil Dowd played on a measly 11 seconds to the “minimum” four minutes added time. It will not be a surprise to Sunderland fans as Wenger has never been gracious in defeat (it must have felt like a defeat!) and his post-match interviews after playing us in recent seasons have been rather embarrassing.
Excuses are the reasons of a weak man Arsene.
The Sunderland goal always looked like coming; it just so happened that the equaliser was the last kick of the match. After dominating so much of the play and looking the more dangerous of the two sides Sunderland would have left aggrieved had we not managed to gain a point, at the very least.
The scenes when Sunderland grabbed the equaliser were epic. Strangers hugging like long lost brothers and sisters meeting for the first time in years, shins bruised and left gushing with blood from scraping on the seats in front and the celebratory roar was like no other.
The game started well for Sunderland, having most of the play. But when the ball was played back to Anton Ferdinand in his own half, he was slow to clear and Cesc Fabregas was quick to pounce, blocking Ferdinand’s effort to clear the ball forward and fortunately deflecting the ball from 30 yards over the head of the stranded Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet.
It was a freak goal.
Thankfully we kept our heads and continued where we’d left off, playing some great football and dominating the game up until the half way mark. The possession statistic at half-time apparently read 65%-35% in our favour. Not many Premier league sides could boast such dominance against the Gooners, a side renowned for their passing game.
The second half was similar to the first. Sunderland had the majority of the play but it was very much end to end stuff.
Alexander Song was shown a red card for his second yellow of the game. His first yellow was the result of consistent fouling and his second was a reckless challenge on Steed, leaving Dowd with no other option but to send him off.
I thought we would take advantage of the extra man after outplaying Arsenal for much of the game. However, Arsenal proved to be a much tougher prospect with ten men, tightening up at the back and breaking with speed on the counter.
Arsenal were becoming more and more dangerous and when Nasri was clumsily tripped by Elmo inside the area Dowd blew for a penalty. Rosicky stepped up to take it and reminiscent to Patrick Vieira’s penalty at the Stadium of Light many years ago he skyed the ball straight over the bar much to the relief of the Sunderland faithful. Game well and truly back on.
Sunderland continued to pile the pressure on Arsenal and were duly rewarded seconds from time. Clichy’s clearance from a goal-mouth scramble fell straight to the prolific Darren Bent who blasted the ball into the net.
Good result in the end. It’s a game we should have won but we put in a top performance and continue to improve. The future’s looking bright.
I’d like to add that it was refreshing to see a capable referee for a change. Phil Dowd is the best referee I’ve seen for a long while, it’s a shame we don’t see such consistency on a regular basis.
Craig Gordon Back For West Ham
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Craig Gordon is expected to make his first start of the season in the league cup game at home to West Ham next Tuesday night.
Gordon suffered from a broken arm in pre-season but he’s fully mended now, back in training and raring to go.
Sunderland’s new signing, Belgian U21 Keeper, Simon Mignolet has profited from Gordon’s injury. Mignolet started the season quite nervy but appears to have settled into the swing of things and had a particularly good game away to Wigan last Saturday. There’s no doubt the lad has potential and a bright future lies ahead of him but Gordon is a top class keeper and certainly makes the side stronger with him in it.
Gordon had a fantastic season last time around, pulling off spectacular saves along the way and helping to earn Sunderland some important points.
Let’s hope he can recapture his fine form from last season and help the lads climb up the table.
John Mensah Chant
Posted by: | CommentsJohn Mensah Chant
Nobody beats John Mensah,
But they keep on trying so he sends them flying…
Wigan Athletic And Their Little Drum
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We’re never too confident about picking up points away from home but after beating Man City last week and signing £13m Asamoah Gyan I think we travelled to Wigan thinking we had a great chance to come away with all three points.
The early stages of the game were fairly balanced, both teams were looking rather nervous and the game appeared to be wide open. That is until Cattermole was shown his second booking of the game after only 22 minutes. As Rodallega cleverly skipped past Catts it was as if time suddenly slowed down. Sunderland fans stood, with jaws open and eyes twitching nervously (Harry Redknapp style) at the thought of the inevitable. Catts steamed into the quick footed Rodallega, sending him tumbling to the turf and leaving the referee Andre Marriner with no other option than to send Cattermole off for the second time this season. He’s only made three appearances!
After the sending off our tactics changed and although we managed to remain in the game it really put us at a massive disadvantage. Playing with ten men for an hour was not ideal but we managed to rally together and matched Wigan even with a man short.
The atmosphere was tremendous from the Sunderland fans, who were behind the side from start til finish. A few passing Wigan Athletic supporters at the end of the game commented that it was the loudest Away following that they’d experienced which was a fantastic complement. Wigan on the other hand were pretty lifeless and relied on a South American-like drum to help create any sort of noise. I’d absolutely hate it if Sunderland had to resort to such a ‘cringeworthy’ crowd encouragement crutch.
As the game went on, Sunderland were becoming more and more confident and we were beginning to look the most dangerous. However, Wigan did have the best chance of the game when Mauro Boselli headed wide from only a few yards away from goal.
But it was Sunderland who opened the scoring when Henderson received the ball not far from the halfway line he skipped past the Wigan full-back and crossed the ball, inch-perfect into the box for the new boy Asamoah Gyan who volleyed the ball past Al Habsi in the Wigan goal. 1-0. Awesome finish. The Sunderland fans really did go mental.
As the time went on I thought we would have managed to hang on for all three points. For all of Wigan’s possession they really didn’t look like scoring and hardly tested Mignolet in the Sunderland goal. However, after a scramble in and around the Sunderland area the ball fell to Cleverley who smashed the ball from outside the box, it was heading way wide but took a crazy deflection from the head of Antolin Alcaraz. I’m unsure whether he meant it or not but all that matters to Wigan is it went flying into the back of the net (luck wasn’t on our side yesterday). Cue Wigan’s post goal music-mix drowning out their own fans celebrations. You’re not American. And you’re not watching Basketball.
All in all it was a good day out, the football wasn’t the greatest, Cattermole’s sending off put a dampener on things and the referee Andre Marriner was poor. Cattermole certainly deserved to go for his second challenge but Wigan players got away with being booked for similar challenges to his first.
That’s the sixth Sunderland match Marriner has refereed and in those six fixtures he’s sent off four of our players. There was no consistency in yesterday’s game where bookings were concerned and before Cattermole received his first booking he hadn’t even had a talking to. But that’s by the by, the draw was a fair result in the end.
Next match, Arsenal at home! Haway the lads!
