Old foes defy City slackers

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 0

A victory delivered on Wearside had its foundations laid firmly in the Stretford End of English football’s self-proclaimed capital, as the Old Trafford old boys provided a timely reminded to the noisy neighbours — once a red, always a red.

You can take the boy out of the Theatre of Dreams, but not vice-versa, apparently. Phil Bardsley’s first-half goal nudged open the door to an unlikely result, one sealed by a compelling rearguard in which the Scotland international was once of three former Manchester United players in a back four that provided unstinting cover for the equally admirable Vito Mannone, the goalkeeper who marked his Premier League debut for the club with a scarcely-foreseen clean sheet.