Premier League - Sunderland peg back West Ham

Eurosport - Sat, 31 Oct 16:57:00 2009

Darren Bent went from hero to zero as he dragged Sunderland back from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with West Ham, only to then miss a sitter at the death.

West Ham United's Valon Behrami (left) and Sunderland's Steed Malbranque battle for the ball - 0

The Hammers powered into a two-goal lead thanks to Guillermo Franco and Carlton Cole, only to be pegged back by a Bent-inspired Sunderland, who were reduced to 10 men before half time with Kenwyne Jones dismissed for violent conduct.

Andy Reid and then Kieran Richardson restored parity, the second of which came from Bent's cross, but then the England forward really should have won it at the death as Radoslav Kovac's red card saw both sides end the game with 10 men.

Ahead of kick-off there was important news for both teams with Bent shaking off a knee injury to start, while Gianfranco Zola once again opted to overlook Alessandro Diamanti, despite his rescue act against Arsenal.

It was the hosts who sprung out of the traps fastest, but when they created the only two chances of a combative opening 15 minutes, both Bent and Paulo da Silva were off target.

Bent's was a particularly big miss. After Lorik Cana had found a fortunate route into the box, the Sunderland skipper chipped the ball back across goal as Rob Green came out to close the angle. The goal was gaping, Bent lunged forward but his header was woefully wide.

Cana was becoming the leader of a confrontational first half, landing himself a booking for a Bruce Lee-style flying kick on Mark Noble.

Fortunately for the neutral, in Jack Collison West Ham had a player with the ability to raise the entire standard of the football match.

On the 20-minute mark the Welshman served notice of his threat. Teasing and tormenting the Sunderland defence, he laid the ball off to Valon Behrami via Franco, and the Switzerland man brought a fine save out of Craig Gordon.

Come the half hour, Collison's impact was pivotal.

Bursting into acres of space beyond the Sunderland back four, the youngster kept the ball in along the byline, kept his cool and picked the perfect time to lay the opener on a plate for Franco's first league goal.

The hosts were reeling and within five minutes Collison's influence made another telling impact.

First he supplied a raking pass that Cole volleyed goalwards, only to be foiled by a point-blank Gordon save. But just 60 seconds later Collison powered through the red-and-white sieve of a Sunderland midfield again, this time picking the perfect time to release Cole for the second.

Sunderland looked buried but from out of the blue Reid halved the deficit, clipping a trademark free kick into the top corner after Herita Ilunga's foul.

However, Sunderland's joy at reclaiming a foothold in the match was dashed within seconds as Jones needlessly pushed Ilunga to the floor two-handed - the full back making the most of it as Jones disappeared down the tunnel just a bit sooner than the rest of his team-mates for half-time.

Sunderland's response directly after the interval was magnificent.

Bent, now playing as a lone striker, fired across goal to force Green to turn the ball behind, and then from the resulting corner Michael Turner's towering header produced a world class one-handed stop by the West Ham keeper.

Steve Bruce already had his head in his hands, so he did not know what to do with himself moments later as Bent went desperately close once more.

Running into the inside right channel again, he completely bamboozled Tomkins by faking the shot, but after brilliantly cutting onto his left foot his shot skied into the crowd from 10 yards.

Bent may find himself up against Cole for a ticket to South Africa in the summer, and Cole soon missed an equally presentable opportunity as he turned on the after-burners to leave Turner for dead, only to then drag his shot across goal.

Sunderland were still doing all the pressing and Bruce must have been recalling how many cats he had run over as they hit the bar twice in the space of three seconds, first from a Cana header and then from a Da Silva header from the rebound.

The Black Cats refused to be denied though and they got their reward with 12 minutes remaining, the tireless Bent chipping to the far post where Richardson arrived to send Bruce leaping around the dugout.

West Ham's first win in nine games had been snatched away, yet they still had chances to win it, both Zavon Hines and Diamanti going close before Phil Bardsley cleared off the line from Noble.

But it was Bent who should have capped a superb performance with the winner at the death, first sending a free header wide and then failing to make good connection with a close-range volley as Bruce collapsed to his knees amid the pandemonium.

Ben Blackmore / Eurosport

Comment 19 - 38 of 38

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  1. downy100(brain cells)

    Dream on, you'd mess­ yourself before your big saggy y-fronts even came off

    From Tony K, on Tue 3 Nov 6:18PM

  2. Your lass thinks I'm GOOD though Tony K(nobhead) oh­ you mean my team, I've never said I think we're­ good pal!
    FTM

    From downy100, on Tue 3 Nov 5:16PM

  3. Good job the kebab monster clipped that free kick in­ for you or it would have been 3 points to the­ 'ammers. The reason you didnt win downy100(brain­ cells) is simple - YOU ARE NOT AS GOOD AS YOU THINK YOU­ ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!! - FACT

    From Tony K, on Tue 3 Nov 5:01PM

  4. Tony K(nobhead) & cameron w(anker) the John &­ Edward of BT Yahoo Sport Pages!
    We could have won this­ game with 10 men in the second half the question Steve­ Bruce has to ask himself is why we didn't even look­ like winning this game with the full compliment of­ 11!?
    Nosworthy is a liability return ferdinand to the­ defence, at least until we get someone else in­ January!
    FTM

    From downy100, on Tue 3 Nov 4:48PM

  5. cheers newcastleian I support all British boxers­ especially those from the North East (regardless of­ club allegiances) David Dolan,David Ferguson,Tony­ Jeffries,Micheal Hunter,Danny Hughes,Travis Dickinson I­ cheer them all on mate

    From jack torrance, on Tue 3 Nov 12:36PM

  6. Quite possibly malc, as the years roll on i'm­ finding more and more centre forwards that i cant keep­ up with, my dirty tackles mostly result in self injury­ these days

    From Tony K, on Mon 2 Nov 8:53PM

  7. Tone ref 28
    have we palyed against one another in a­ cup match in th saturday afternoon league div 1­ iremember playing against a cente half at Dunston who­ took great pride in trying to take me out by the­ methods you describe but i was too quick for him and­ skinned him scoring two class 25yd goals lol

    From MALCOLM D, on Mon 2 Nov 8:39PM

  8. Tone
    ref 27 I dont dispute what he did was wrong and­ petulant but what I am trying to point put is the­ indecision from the ref who ignored what the assitant­ ref told him as he should have sent off Ilugar as well­ for the headbutt, which has been ignored, had it­ happend to A Shearer when he was playing you would be­ up in arms the same as us.

    From MALCOLM D, on Mon 2 Nov 8:36PM

  9. tone
    I didnt complain about the B/ball incident but­ i did say that the incident had plenty of time to be­ dealt with correctly by the players and the referee­ prior to it doing what it did. but as you rightly say­ it was @#$% refereeing and thats why he is plying his­ trade in your fizzy pop league so you will get to see­ the @#$% that proports to be professional referees.

    From MALCOLM D, on Mon 2 Nov 8:31PM

  10. Wait unti January big players will be coming in and­ then we would be whooping these teams 5-0

    From Tim, on Mon 2 Nov 7:56PM

  11. Malc

    When playing I always favour more sly and­ cowardly attacks, my favourite being dropping the­ opponent with a slide tackle then standing on his hand­ whilst getting up. If you get your two heel studs near­ his knuckles you can bet there will be a break or at­ the least a couple of dislocations. Tackling "over­ the ball" is also a speciality of mine, time that­ right and you have a definate leg break on your hands,­ plus the added bonus that none of the opposition will­ come near you after that (providing you remain on the­ pitch of course)

    From Tony K, on Mon 2 Nov 7:39PM

  12. Malc

    Joneses worst crime was the girly push in the­­ face. If you are going to get sent off and receive a­­ fine then surely it makes sense to get your moneys­­ worth and give your opponent a proper right hander??­­ What he did is like going into a bank with a sawn off­­ shotgun and demanding a fiver........

    From Tony K, on Mon 2 Nov 7:25PM

  13. Malc

    I didnt hear you complaining about inconsistent­ refereeing when that beachball scored for you!­ Inconsistent refereeing enabled you lot to take 3­ points off the scousers. Swings and roundabouts­ malc....

    From Tony K, on Mon 2 Nov 6:16PM

  14. This ws defo the classic game of two halves!!! The­ first half the defnce were terrible and were rightly­ punished, however the class of Reids freekick was­ something else indeed.
    The equaliser was somewhat­ fortuitous , but , rightly desereved as the performance­ was 100% better in the second half.
    D Bent was­ extremely unlucky with his attempts on goal,on another­ day he'd have had a hatrick.
    He ran himself­ ragged, as did Reid,Malbranque and not forgetting J­ Henderson.
    The really negative side of the whole game­ was again the poor referee standard, he was far too­ card happy and spoilt the flow of the game at times.
    ­ Regarding the Jones sending off, Both players should­ have walked because if you watch the replay you will­ see clearly that the W/ham player brought his head up­ from Jones Chest in an attempt to head butt Jones and­ thats why he pushed him away, however,he knows if you­ raise your hands you walk, no excuse ,but the ref­ should have sent them both off. Inconsistant refereeing­ again in the EPL lets see if the FA give this ref a­ championship game ???? in reality he shouldnt ref a­ sunday league game.

    From MALCOLM D, on Mon 2 Nov 5:43PM

  15. jack..i always had a sense of pride when khan held the­ union jack and said he was proud to be both british and­ muslim, pity a few more did not have his way of­ thinking.i am off to sheffield in a minute,it is only­ about 50 miles from my humble abode on the south­ manchester and cheshire border,have a pleasant evening­ fella and get thawed out from your weekend excursion!!­ HOWAY THE LADS.

    From newcastleian1, on Mon 2 Nov 4:41PM

  16. Sorry Tony,bit stressed after my w/e on the Newbiggen­ Rivierra, 2" rain and 70mph winds ha ha

    From jack torrance, on Mon 2 Nov 3:57PM

  17. Crikey Jack 2 bites!! Youve been on here long enough­ to see that remark for what it is matey, as for Khan I­ think the abuse is the frustration the public feel­ being constantly told by his people he's the best­ fighter in the world but in reality he's fighting­ people that are hopelessly mismatched. Same thing­ happened with (Fr)Audley Harrison the only difference­ being Harrison is actually a rubbish boxer.

    From Tony K, on Mon 2 Nov 2:37PM

  18. p.s 8th in the Premiership after 11 games including­ matches agaianst Man UTD,Chelsea and­ Liverpool,that's not good luck that's good­ football.The table doesn't lie

    From jack torrance, on Mon 2 Nov 2:26PM

  19. Tony K What's that saying about little boys living­ in glass houses? we didn't just get our baits put­ up for us off Scunthorpe and Nottingham Forrest big­ lad,wonder what West Ham would do with your lads??

    From jack torrance, on Mon 2 Nov 2:22PM

  20. newcastleian,apparently Khan is sick of the negative­ comments he gets in our boxing press,media and some­ abuse he get's on the street no doubt from brave­ souls passing quickly in cars or buses.He feels more­ comfortable in the states,there's better sparring­ there and it's easier for Freddy Roach.In a­ nutshell England pretty much sucks for him,Olympic­ silver medallist,World Champion and still he's­ abused in his own country,make's me feel real proud

    From jack torrance, on Mon 2 Nov 2:18PM
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