Gales force postponements

High winds in the north west which led to “red warnings” being issued by the Met Office caused last night’s Manchester City v Sunderland and Everton v Crystal Palace games to be called off less than an hour before the scheduled kick-off times.

And City boss Manuel Pellegrini said the correct course of action was taken.

“The safety of the City and Sunderland supporters is the most important thing,” he said.

“We were ready to play this game but the well-being of the people coming to the Etihad Stadium is paramount.”

Many Sunderland fans had arrived at the ground before the game was postponed but Black Cats manager Gus Poyet understood the reasons behind the decision to call it off.

“There had been too many incidents around the stadium and it would have been very difficult to maintain the security in terms of the fans and the approaches to the ground,” he said.

The strong winds caused building damage near Goodison Park which resulted in Everton’s game being cancelled.