McClean stars as Black Cats’ revival goes on

IRISH midfielder James McClean enhanced his growing reputation last night, scoring his first goal for Sunderland as the Black Cats hammered Wigan 4-1 to ensure Martin O’Neill’s golden start to life back in the Premier League continued.

McClean has made a number of cameos off the bench since O’Neill took charge last month, playing a key role in Sunday’s shock win over Manchester City. That was enough to secure another starting berth at the DW Stadium last night and the Derry youngster scored Sunderland’s second 10 minutes into the second half.

David Vaughan picked out the 22-year-old in the box, and, although Al Habsi produced a good save from his first header, the goalkeeper could do nothing about the follow-up.