Pearce sees bright future for Samaras

Man City 2 Sunderland 1

Pearce risked his reputation when he splashed out £6m on the unknown Greek striker during the transfer window. But it has not taken Samaras long to prove why Pearce was prepared to make the 21-year-old the second-most expensive player in City history, behind Nicolas Anelka.

The former Heerenveen star’s mixture of raw talent and brute force proved too much for the Black Cats. After scoring against Belarus and Kazakhstan, on his first two senior international appearances, Samaras completed the best week of his career by netting the early double that allowed City to record an unconvincing win over the Championship-bound Wearsiders.