Premier League - West Brom humble Sunderland

Eurosport - Sat, 16 May 14:33:00 2009

Sunderland sank to a 3-0 defeat against rock-bottom West Bromwich Albion to put themselves firmly back into the relegation dogfight.

FOOTBALL West Brom's Chris Brunt finishes past Sunderland's Marton Fulop in their 3-0 Premier League win at the Hawthorns - 0

A first-half strike from Jonas Olsson and goals in the second period from Chris Brunt and substitute Juan Carlos Menseguez condemned the Black Cats to a demoralising defeat which undoes much of the good work achieved in their win against fellow strugglers Hull City last week.

West Brom edged an insipid first-half which was typical of both sides' struggles this season.

Unsurprisingly, given the poor play on show, the first chance of note came thanks to a deflection when Brunt's low drive from the edge of the Sunderland box almost deceived Marton Fulop after it took a nick on the way through to the stand-in Sunderland keeper on 25 minutes.

A rare moment of quality came from Kieran Richardson ten minutes later, as the Sunderland midfielder picked the ball up in space in the middle of the pitch before unleashing a powerful, swerving shot from 25 yards out which forced Scott Carson into an agile diving save to his right.

Then came the opener as a Jonathan Greening corner from the right fell nicely for Olsson at the far post, allowing the Swede to drive the ball left-footed into the Sunderland net.

Given their perilous situation, you would have expected Ricky Sbragia's side to come raring out of the blocks in the second-half. But what came after the break was somehow even worse from Sunderland, as Tony Mowbray's doomed Baggies outplayed them with apparent ease.

Sunderland had time to waste a number of promising free-kicks in the opening exchanges of the second-half before Brunt doubled West Brom's lead on the hour mark. Marc-Antoine Fortune did well to slow the ball down wide on the right before squaring the ball perfectly for Brunt to slide the ball home from close-range.

Djibril Cisse almost brought his side back into it a couple of minutes later, but he knew very little about it as he inadvertently diverted a Teemu Tainio drive narrowly over the crossbar.

Sunderland's miserable afternoon was rounded off two minutes before time when West Brom sub Menseguez controlled nicely inside the box and shot low past Fulop to emphasise the extent of the visitors' problems.

Ben Phillips / Eurosport

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  1. For any fellow boxing fans out there ITV4 have agreed­ to screen the the Froch/Taylor fight 8.30p.m­ Sunday,still think it's a disgrace no-one is­ screening it live.

    From jack torrance, on Sat 25 Apr 1:39PM

  2. pps cameron we got 3 points out of only two of those­ three fixtures you mention and may still nick a point­ from a distracted Chelsea at our place.

    From jack torrance, on Sat 25 Apr 9:54AM

  3. p.s hope Keane crashes and burns his tractor the self­ loathing surrender monkey

    From jack torrance, on Sat 25 Apr 9:45AM

  4. Ashley has been trying to court the Mag's favour­ since he arrived bringing back the 'messiah'­ was never going to work,Keegan again was a great player­ but as a manager he is burned out,unable to respond­ defiantly to critisism,walking out as soon as the going­ gets tough in any job he gets,his was another soundbite­ appointment the same as Shearer's,lacking any­ insight,it's like who would the fans like me for­ the most if I hired him?Who's next?Super­ Mac,Beardsly,Ginnola.You really do have a pathetic­ captain at the helm of a fastly sinking ship in Ashley­ I'm afraid.

    From jack torrance, on Sat 25 Apr 9:42AM

  5. We creamed WBA 4-0 last time out and I haven't seen­ anything in their recent form to suggest today will be­ any different.Come on Cameron you can't call Stoke­ a pub team the night before the match then call them a­ "daunting" fixture.The simple fact of the­ matter is that Shearer was a fantastic player for both­ club and country and I have nothing but admiration for­ his professionalism throughout his playing career,but­ and it's a big but,he's not and never will be­ management material.He has no experience,no charisma­ and no savvy about how to grind out unpretty results I­ still think it was an awfull decision for NUFC at such­ a critical stage in their season

    From jack torrance, on Sat 25 Apr 9:35AM

  6. Nice one Jack. You can do sums, well done, but still­ cant tell the difference between Newman and McQueen.­ NUFC av. Attendance 2007-2008 50778, SAFC av. 2007-2008­ 41906. Meaning both clubs averages have gone down by­ about 2500. Are your fans also leaving in droves as you­ suggested or are both clubs just being affected a bit­ by the recession.

    From Bob R, on Sat 25 Apr 9:03AM

  7. Daniel T. How does my making a comment about­ attendances at 7.24pm prove Newcastle fans dont work?­ Good to see facism is alive and well in sunny­ sunderland though!

    From Bob R, on Sat 25 Apr 8:48AM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    the reason newcastle fans will turn up at games in the­ championship is because if they don`t renew their­ season tickets they have to pay a buy out clause!­ Stupid C**ts

    From Mike, on Sat 25 Apr 7:48AM

  9. They are too busy trying to cross the channel

    From DANIEL T, on Fri 24 Apr 10:40PM

  10. Sorry I missed out the "D" in ROUNDHEADS.

    From DANIEL T, on Fri 24 Apr 10:29PM

  11. Well Bobr you have just confirmed what is generally­ accepted, that N/cle supporters don't work. How can­ they when they keep turning up in their droves to­ watch, on saturdays, sundays oh yes and mondays, such­ trivial football at st james's. Keep it up, at­ least I know it can't be immigrants that watch such­ rubbish UP THE ROUNHEADS

    From DANIEL T, on Fri 24 Apr 10:27PM

  12. ps
    farty towels eh!!!!

    From cameron w, on Fri 24 Apr 9:35PM

  13. As for the fans staying away in their droves, is 3,000­ 'droves' jack;NUFC will still average 40,000 in­ the Championship which will still outdo safc. We never­ expected miracles from Shearer, just as well really as­ we aren't getting them; however as Kev oncwe­ famously said, 'We're still here and we're­ still fighting'!!! Yes maybe not for the title, at­ least we have fought for the title by the way, but for­ survival and there'll be 52,000 of us there Monday­ night willing the lads on!
    Anyway, like i said: good to­ have you back jack.

    From cameron w, on Fri 24 Apr 9:34PM

  14. Look at the run-ins jack: you will not beat WBA­ it's a simple as that. Yes 3 home wins on the spin­ is a lot to ask, but it is very, very much manageable -­ as is a result against 'on the beach' Villa.

    From cameron w, on Fri 24 Apr 9:34PM

  15. Good to have you back jack; your cohorts have really­ let your side down!
    No banter, just bile i'm­ afraid.
    Tell me jack: could we really expect anything­ more than one point from 3 daunting fixtures - Chelsea­ at home (current Champions Leagues S/Finalists), Stoke­ away (just look at that home record), and Spurs­ away(unbeaten in 13 at home and on a roll). People seem­ to forget that NUFC isn't exactly a good side you­ know - one point is about par for the course!!

    From cameron w, on Fri 24 Apr 9:33PM

  16. SAFC 15th in the league
    NUFC 19th in the league,these­ sums are so simple I'm even getting the hang of­ them

    From jack torrance, on Fri 24 Apr 8:06PM

  17. BobR your team has the second least points of all the­ teams in the premiership . .simple sums

    From jack torrance, on Fri 24 Apr 7:45PM

  18. 2008-2009 SAFC average home attendance to date (prem.­ league) 39410
    2008-2009 NUFC average home attendance­ to date (prem. league) 48219

    Simple sums boys, simple­ sums. Dont even have to bring up the fact that a good­ portion of the 39410 were kids on 2 for a tenner­ tickets.

    From Bob R, on Fri 24 Apr 7:24PM

  19. somehow cameron, i beg to differ, lets be truthful­ here, the ever so faithful geordies are already leaving­ in droves, many ppl i work with, who, opps yes thats­ rite ARE currently season ticket holders, ARE NOT­ renewing, so u tell me where are u going to drag the­ extra supporters from, maybe when dunston or newcastle­ blue star are on an away game ????

    From Andrew, on Fri 24 Apr 7:02PM

  20. prediction- 4 points out of our next 3 games and safety

    From jack torrance, on Fri 24 Apr 6:35PM
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