English FA Premiership/Sunderland - 1 Manchester City - 2: Sunderland felt the brutal reality of the Premiership again last night. They won 29 matches in taking the Championship title last season but this was a third game and a third defeat in the top flight. It leaves Mick McCarthy and the entire club staring upwards.
For Manchester City it is the opposite as they look down from the top of the table. This was City's second away win in four days and it is Portsmouth at home on Saturday. For a club in such debt they appear pretty prosperous.
Sunderland were fighting a battle they were to lose from the 10th minute when Darius Vassell showed speed and coolness to slide in the opener. Ten minutes before half-time Trevor Sinclair blasted in a second and, though Anthony Le Tallec was credited with a 41st-minute header that gave Sunderland hope, Wearside is again suffering this morning.
In terms of experience and status City's line-up looked the more formidable, a situation Sunderland will encounter most weeks. But Sunderland did have Andy Welsh on their teamsheet, the diminutive winger having had his red card at Anfield rescinded yesterday.
Welsh started on the left and three early long passes over the City defence offered encouragement to Sunderland. Le Tallec, making his debut, struck one of these straight at David James and, when released by Welsh on 22 minutes, the Frenchman had another effort palmed away by James.
City, of course, were already up. Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna both displayed neat, quick feet to send Vassell free for his goal and the former Aston Villa forward scored his first City goal steering a diagonal shot past Kelvin Davis.
The stadium fell silent, an action repeated in the 35th minute when Kiki Musampa and Andy Cole worked an opening on the edge of the home box. The ball finally ran to Sinclair who gave Davis no chance with an emphatic drilled right-foot shot.
The Wearsiders could have gone into their shells at the second City goal. To their credit, however, they kept on going. Julio Arca forced a sprawling save from James and four minutes before the interval Sunderland found proper reward when Le Tallec beat Richard Dunne to head a Dean Whitehead corner past James.
At the interval McCarthy withdrew the ineffective Andy Gray and brought on Jon Stead. There were some nice touches from the former Blackburn player but City were the more dangerous team at the beginning of the second half. Davis was alert to stop Cole after Sinclair had broken free into an acre of room down the Sunderland left. Both sides were now committed to attack but the equaliser proved just too illusive for Sunderland.
Guardian Service
SUNDERLAND: Davis, Nosworthy, Stubbs, Breen, Arca, Whitehead, Miller, Welsh, Elliott, Gray (Stead 45), Le Tallec (Lawrence 82). Subs not used: Robinson, Caldwell, Joe Murphy. Booked: Stead. Goal: Le Tallec 41.
MANCHESTER CITY: James, Mills, Dunne, Jordan (Onuoha 75), Thatcher, Sinclair, Barton, Reyna, Musampa (Jihai 80), Cole, Vassell. Subs not used: De Vlieger, Sibierski, Wright-Phillips. Booked: Cole, Mills. Goals: Vassell 10, Sinclair 35.
Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire).
