Johnson again man to shoot down Magpies

Newcastle United 0 Sunderland 1

This time, one goal was sufficient and it was a superbly engineered winner that came in the 90th minute and left Newcastle with no chance to respond.

Johnson, at the centre of a diving controversy last week, started it as he held off a strong challenge from Moussa Sissoko deep inside his own half when he could justifiably have gone down.

The winger, who was almost substituted earlier in the half, surged forward 50 yards and exchanged passes with Steven Fletcher and Will Buckley before his decisive finish past Jak Alnwick.

Adam Johnson said: “I love playing here. It’s a great ground with a great atmosphere and you always need to rise to the occasion. I felt disappointed because I should have scored earlier on, so if I had missed that chance as well I would have been gutted all night.

“The manager said to me that I would be coming off, but told him I was alright to stay on. It’s a massive win for us and gives us a great boost, but I think it has been coming for weeks. ”

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has now triumphed in his last five meetings against Newcastle’s Alan Pardew, but said: “I need to be careful and show respect to everyone at Newcastle.

“I hope everyone will understand our feelings. It is great, incredible and something to remember all your life. It is a special moment for the club.

“There is no more confidence than you can get from beating your local rivals at their place, so there are no excuses now for next week.”

There could have been several goals for both teams in a pulsating derby which started badly for Sunderland when they had to reshape their defence, calling up Sebastien Coates after defender Anthony Reveillere injured a calf in the warm-up.

Coates was booked within two minutes, the first of eight yellow cards shown by Anthony Taylor as he attempted to keep the lid on a typically feisty derby which thankfully featured a friendlier approach from both sets of supporters.

Sunderland’s fans joined in the 17th minute applause for the Newcastle followers who died in the MH17 plane crash; Newcastle’s responded similarly in the 33rd minute to mark the £33,000 raised on Wearside in aid of the victims.

Despite their disruptive build-up, Sunderland had the edge in the opening half and went closest to a breakthrough when Fletcher steered Larsson’s cross against the bar after escaping the attentions of Steven Taylor.

Taylor had the better of their next encounter, heading clear as Fletcher was about to turn in Connor Wickham’s 50th minute cross, but a collision with the post forced him off for stitches in a head wound — and Sunderland should have capitalised on his absence when Jordi Gomez sliced wide.

Newcastle had not created similar threats, but went in search of a winner in the final third of the match. Ayoze Perez forced Costel Pantilimon to make an excellent 63rd minute save, while Sissoko and Perez also failed to take chances before the dramatic climax.

Pardew said: “It is painful. My players were wrapped up in the emotion of the derby in the first half, but we caused them problems in the second.

“If there was one fault today it was we over committed at the end,” but this club wants to see goals. I will never manage this team and accept a draw at home, but we should still have the discipline to do the job. It was our defenders who over committed.

“They gave everything and tried to win it and, if you lose, it’s good to do it in that manner by trying to push for a win.”

NEWCASTLE UNITED: Alnwick 6; Janmaat 6, Coloccini 6, Taylor 8, Dummett 6; Colback 4, Tiote 5 (Cisse 75,5); Ameobi 5 (Cabella 89), Sissoko 6, Gouffran 4 (Armstrong 59,5); Perez 7

SUNDERLAND: Pantilimon 7; Vergini 5, Coates 7, Brown 6, O’Shea 6; Cattermole 6 (Bridcutt 70,5); Johnson 5 (Rodwell 90,5), Larsson 7, Gomez 5, Wickham 7 (Buckley 81,5); Fletcher 8.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.