Black Cats’ goal drought continues

Sunderland 0 Manchester City 3

Mark Staniforth

SUNDERLAND’S nightmare continues as they took their goalless streak to eight hours at the Stadium of Light last night.

Marc-Vivien Foe, Sun Jihai and Shaun Goater scored to send Manchester City up to mid-table.

Dismal Sunderland remain in the relegation dogfight and were booed off at the final whistle.

Howard Wilkinson kept faith in his ailing strike-force and the home side pushed up from the start, with George McCartney making good progress down the left flank, but lacked the final ball towards the lively Flo up front.

Phillips showed just how much he has lost the form which once carried him into an England place when Kevin Kilbane’s excellent right-wing cross found him unmarked eight yards from goal in the eighth minute.

But the out-of-sorts striker rushed his chance and hopelessly miscued his shot wide of Peter Schmeichel’s right-hand post. Nicolas Anelka won his first chance in the 17th minute when sent down the right by Foe, but he was too wide to trouble the Sunderland goal and Stephen Wright intercepted.

A series of slow reactions in the Sunderland defence brought City back into the match and Sun Jihai’s lofted cross from the right was headed over the bar by Shaun Goater. Sunderland came closest in the 23rd minute when Thirlwell fired in a precise corner from the left which caused havoc in the City defence.

Phillips attempted to poke the ball home in an almighty goalmouth scramble but the ball caught under his swinging leg and a grateful Richard Dunne hacked clear off the line. City were unfortunate not to take the lead in the 38th minute after Anelka won a free-kick from Gray wide on the City right.

Jihai’s delivery was nodded back against his own post by Kilbane and the rebound somehow eluded Goater City grabbed the opening goal just before half-time when the Sunderland defence failed to pick up a hopeful punt upfield by Jihai and Foe outpaced the home rearguard, flicked the ball over the on-rushing Jurgen Macho on the edge of his box, and neatly scooped the ball home Sunderland, booed off at half-time, came under pressure straight from the restart when Anelka burst down the left and was stopped by a great saving tackle from Bjorklund.

Foe reacted best to the resulting corner with a flicked header which flashed inches wide of the helpless Macho’s left-hand post. Proctor almost broke Sunderland’s deadlock in the 56th minute with a fierce right-foot effort from long range which squeezed past a diving Schmeichel’s left-hand post.

Sunderland’s problem’s intensified in the 62nd minute when more slack defending gave City their second goal.

Goater sent Anelka cutting into the Sunderland box from the left and Macho could only parry the Frenchman’s cross-shot into the path of Jihai, who knocked home the simplest of chances. Goater himself finished off Sunderland with a neat turn and low shot past Macho in the 87th minute.

SUNDERLAND: Macho, McCartney, Wright, Babb, Gray, Bjorklund, Kilbane, Thirlwell, Proctor, Phillips, Flo.

MAN CITY: Schmeichel, Dunne, Jihai, Distin, Howey, Tiatto, Horlock, Berkovic, Foe, Anelka, Goater.

Referee: S Dunn (Avon).