Premier League - Sunderland draw with Wigan

Eurosport - Sat, 06 Feb 17:20:00 2010

Kenwyne Jones's header cancelled out Mohamed Diame's opener as Sunderland and Wigan played out a pulsating 1-1 draw in their Premier League clash at the Stadium of Light.

Wigan Athletic's Mohamed Diame (centre) scores the first goal of the game - 0

Sunderland came into the match on the back of 10 matches without a win, but the early signs suggested they were desperate to stop it becoming 11.

They pressured the visitors from the kick-off. That early possession culminated in Alan Hutton making a solid run up the right and releasing a pass to Darren Bent, who turned and fired powerfully and on target - but directly at Chris Kirkland in the Wigan goal.

Three minutes later, however, the match began to swing Wigan's way - even if Paul Scharner completely missed the ball when swinging at Hugo Rodallega's inch-perfect pass.

The visitors' disappointment lasted just eight minutes, with Diame cutting in from the right flank, wrong-footing the defence and burying an unstoppable shot past Craig Gordon at the near post.

It was an outstanding goal, and the same player could have added another 20 minutes later with an overhead kick from a corner.

Sunderland were restricted to a couple of chances in the opening period, with Jones seeing his deflected shot glance off the post on the half-hour mark, and Lee Cattermole unleashing a long-range rocket 10 minutes later that drew a brilliant stop from Kirkland.

Wigan went in holding on to a lead they deserved on the balance of play, but it was the Black Cats who started the second half in better form as they pushed forward desperately seeking an equaliser.

A string of chances came along, with Scharner just depriving Bent of a clean header from point-blank range two minutes after the restart then only the linesman denying the England striker seven minutes further on, when he rounded the keeper after Jones put him clean through.

All the pushing forward saw Sunderland leave gaps at the back, however, and Wigan very nearly doubled their lead on 57 minutes as George McCartney drew a nerveless point-blank stop from Gordon.

And four minutes later Charles N'Zogbia fluffed a seemingly unmissable chance from similar range, pulling the ball wide when it looked easier to score.

The Black Cats immediately punished their guests' wastefulness as Jordan Henderson delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right that Jones leapt to meet and divert a lovely finish into the bottom left corner.

Sunderland could have had another two minutes later as the frontman curled just wide of the right post, and his injury-time effort was only stopped when Jones inadvertently got in the way of his otherwise goal-bound shot.

The frantic pace of the match finally died down as the players tired, and with neither side able to break the deadlock it was a well-earned point for both sides.

Wigan will be the happier to have got away with the draw, picking up a point after two losses in a row.

Any satisfaction that Steve Bruce's Sunderland side might have gained from the point was cut short, however, as Henderson was stretchered off with 20 minutes to go after a horrendous-looking ankle injury that looks likely to keep him out of the side for some time.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

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  1. good man

    From jack torrance, on Wed 10 Feb 5:01

  2. Yes i am Jack; spent a few days in the Kimberley - so­ much work out there, working with the Aborigine people;­ gorgeous place too.
    And nope, this is the WORST pen­ ever!
    safc will not go down Jack, but boy do i like­ winding you lot up!

    From cameron, on Tue 9 Feb 8:09

  3. (amazing can't even say "t.oss up" . .­ .f.arking Nazis)

    From jack torrance, on Tue 9 Feb 4:59

  4. hey now that's support for ya,must be an 8-9 hour­ flight from there.I've been to Wellington, great­ place.Spent a month touring the South Island of NZ and­ it was a toss up between there and Oz for us.Still ­ think the worst/best penalty I ever saw was­ St.Shearer's in the derby game . . priceless.Your­ boys did better than expected at the weekend,I'm­ still optimistic about our chances of finishing in the­ top half of the bottom half (if u know what I mean).
    U­ still planning a move to Oz?

    From jack torrance, on Tue 9 Feb 4:56

  5. Good morning Jack; i left you a cushty message last­ night but sad lad removed it!
    Anyway, i'll try­ again!
    Whilst in Oz, i took in a couple of Perth Glory­ games; one of them was against Wellington Phoenix (NZ)­ and i heard the best chant ever, 'You're only­ here for our livestock'! Believe it or not, the­ Phoenix actually brought a healthy away support - and­ they say a trip to Plymouth is a long haul­ here!
    Atmosphere was fantastic, and i had the best seat­ in the house for £15 - incidentally, a Perth Glory old­ boy was making his first return for Phoenix and he took­ the WORST penalty i have ever seen - go and you tube­ 'Eugene Dadi Penalty' and enjoy; and remember,­ Cam was there!

    From cameron, on Tue 9 Feb 2:35

  6. This is truly worrying . . .for the first time I find­ myself . . hold on this is hard to say . . must compose­ myself . . .drum roll . . I find myself agreeing with­ Bob R !!! come on lads this paranoia is getting a bit­ silly.So what if some dipstick deletes comments,perhaps­ it's a random phenomenon,glitch in the system or­ some aberrant w anker with nothing else better to­ do,ignore and move on,it should be beneath us

    From jack torrance, on Tue 9 Feb 1:13

  7. ill repeat myself since comments dissapeared. Tony just­ caus someones comments dissapeared doesnt mean there­ the one removing comments.So last week when ur comments­ dissapeared u wer the one removing it???????/ so dont u­ dare point the negativity at me!!!!!!!!!!!! ANd for­ pwils hu cares

    From Tim, on Mon 8 Feb 15:43

  8. ill repeat myself since comments dissapeared. Tony just­ caus someones comments dissapeared doesnt mean there­ the one removing comments.So last week when ur comments­ dissapeared u wer the one removing it???????/ so dont u­ dare point the negativity at me!!!!!!!!!!!! ANd for­ pwils hu cares

    From Tim, on Mon 8 Feb 15:43

  9. zzzkunt right on

    From Tim, on Mon 8 Feb 15:38

  10. zzzkunt, who's next sad lad

    From JONNY, on Mon 8 Feb 15:05

  11. You have been a busy little fellow,haven't you. bye­ bye. see you soon.

    From , on Mon 8 Feb 14:13

  12. AND where have you been,mr tony­ k??????????????????????????????????????????????????????­ ??????????????????????????????????

    From , on Mon 8 Feb 14:11

  13. Its P(rick)Wilson for christ sake.
    Changing from 79 to­ 69 doesnt fool anyone in fact only last week Tim­ employed the same smokescreen tactic of removing his­ own comments to divert suspicion. PWilson and Tim­ trying the same tricks? Must be another coincidence.

    From Tony, on Mon 8 Feb 14:09

  14. Lads, lads, some people on here know me as a regular­ contributor on the NUFC board. Do you not think you are­ all taking things a bit seriously? Have a bit of craic­ with the lads who are on the board when you are and if­ some sad tool deletes you so what? Its not as if you­ are publishing a top article/novel is it? Pity the tit­ who can be bothered to waste their time doing such a­ thing! Stop going on about it and they will go back to­ pinching their neighbours knickers from the washing­ line or being the sad, lonely one in the corner of the­ pub before you know it. So I repeat...Which mackem­ claimed Cana was the north east's best ever player?­ Because unlike some I am not prepared to sift back­ through months of banter.

    From Bob R, on Mon 8 Feb 13:15

  15. Goodnight men (John & Bob).
    Get stuffed Turdy.

    From cameron, on Mon 8 Feb 13:07

  16. Turdy - STOP IT!

    From cameron, on Mon 8 Feb 13:05

  17. Now why would someone remove my nice, friendly comments­ for Jack - sheer spite that!
    Never fear to55er,­ i'll post it again for Jack when you are not­ around.
    What a sad lad.

    From cameron, on Mon 8 Feb 13:05

  18. My comments have been removed - convenient for someone­ that!

    From cameron, on Mon 8 Feb 13:03

  19. Evening Bob,
    welcome to our 'Whodunnit'!

    From cameron, on Mon 8 Feb 13:02

  20. That should be ADMIT. Its been an ale fuelled weekend.

    From Bob R, on Mon 8 Feb 12:55
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