Premiership: Sunderland win dull outing

Sunderland 1 Everton 0

American midfielder Claudio Reyna marked his home debut for Sunderland with a precious winner to kill off Everton’s stubborn resistance.

Reyna pounced with his first goal for the club 13 minutes from time to ease the pressure on the misfiring Wearsiders in front of 48,013 spectators on a wintry afternoon in the North-East.

In a game of few chances, neither Thomas Sorensen nor Steve Simonsen were called upon to make more than a handful of genuine saves.

But the South Shields-born Everton keeper was unfortunate to be let down by his defence when he blocked Reyna’s initial shot but was left helpless when Jason McAteer returned the loose ball towards goal.

The game rarely threatened to reach the level of entertainment expected, but Black Cats boss Peter Reid will simply have been delighted to have collected three points against his former club to get the ball rolling once again.

Injury-plagued Everton arrived at the Stadium of Light expecting a Sunderland backlash after last weekend’s horror show at Southampton.

And, with Niall Quinn back in harness, they could have been forgiven for not looking forward to their afternoon’s work on the freezing banks of the Wear.

However, they left the field at half-time having more than held their own in a distinctly ordinary first 45 minutes.

Sunderland dominated possession but created few clear-cut chances and, as the visitors grew in confidence, it was they who looked the more likely to score on their rare forays upfield.

The home side prospered down the left, where Michael Gray and the recalled Julio Arca kept former Newcastle defender Steve Watson on his toes, but too often the service was just not good enough for Quinn and strike partner Kevin Phillips.

Indeed, their only real effort of note came with 19 minutes gone when the Everton defence failed to clear an Arca corner and defender Darren Williams back-heeled the ball towards goal but saw his effort cleared off the line.

Former England star Paul Gascoigne, back in the Toffees’ starting line-up, had earlier curled a free-kick over Sorensen’s crossbar.

But it was skipper David Unsworth who went closest to the opening goal when he met a 34th-minute corner from substitute Niclas Alexandersson but powered his header into Quinn.

Alexandersson looped a header into Sorensen’s arms and the Dane had to pluck Joe-Max Moore’s free-kick out of the air a minute before the break and then collect Tomasz Radzinski’s weak shot seconds later.

But the most significant action in the other penalty area came in injury-time when Phillips needed treatment after a clash with Unsworth.

The England striker emerged for the second half fit and well and could have put his side ahead within five minutes.

Gray slid the ball into him on the edge of the penalty area and he cut inside before unleashing a firm low shot which Simonsen could only parry.

The ball ran free to Reyna, but as the keeper and his defenders scurried towards the ball, the American lifted his shot high over the bar.

But if the spectators sheltering from the blizzard conditions thought that was the signal for a belated flurry of activity, they were to be sadly disappointed as both sides battled hard but were repeatedly let down by sub-standard final balls.

Alexandersson saw a dangerous cross hit Bernt Haas and run to safety when the ball could easily have ended up in the back of his own net, but as the home side upped the tempo, it was they who looked the more likely to make the breakthrough.

Gray whistled a long-range effort just wide on 74 minutes, but the opening goal finally arrived three minutes later.

Unsworth could only block Phillips’ dipping cross into the path of Reyna in front of goal and, although Simonsen pulled off a fine save, the former Rangers midfielder was on hand to stab McAteer’s cross home from point-blank range.

The deflated visitors ploughed forward in the search for an equaliser, but Sunderland were not about to relinquish their hard-earned lead.