Sam Allardyce has become the fourth Sunderland manager in a row to win their second game in charge against Newcastle United. A 3-0 victory at the Stadium of Light has meant for a brilliant start to life as manager for Allardyce.
The controversial ex-NUFC manager took control of the tie when Fabricio Coloccini was sent off for fouling Steven Fletcher in the box. Adam Johnson scored the resulting penalty before half time to decrease moral in McLaren’s camp. Billy Jones’ close range finish in the 65th minute and a brilliantly worked counter-attack finished off by Fletcher ensured that the Black Cats had won six games in a row against the Magpies.
Steven McClaren was more than frustrated as his side slumped into 19th in the division, with his position in doubt during the early stages of the season.
Sunderland however will be hoping there season can be turned around thanks to the new manager. The organisation and determination of the side looked completely revamped as the club turned around a 12 game winless streak. Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League as a manager but this definitely will be his most difficult challenge to date. He may have kept the likes of Blackburn, Bolton and West Ham in the top flight, but defence has been a real problem so far this season. Today’s victory was the club’s only clean sheet of the season so far.
The third goal showed real potential for the club to play well this season with a break starting right from the back. The counter in the 86th minute capped off a brilliant derby for the home fans that still have a lot to improve. Newcastle managed to have 61% possession throughout the match with nearly three times the number of shots as they dominated in the first 45 minutes. Many NUFC fans will argue that the decision to send off the skipper Coloccini and award the penalty affected the end result in the North East clash.
Football eh? Madness from Coloccini but don’t think it was a red. Keeper was always getting there.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 25, 2015
From an unbiased perspective, I personally think the red card for Coloccini was justified, he denied a clear goalscoring opportunity
— Dan Robinson (@DanRobinson_Lad) October 25, 2015
Sunderland next play Everton in a game they hope to push outside of the relegation zone and continue to build on Sunday’s brilliant result.
