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| Bragging rights: Newcastle celebrate Ryan Taylor's winner |
Sunderland 0-1 Newcastle
It was a typical North-East derby, full of controversial decisions, incidents and plenty of fouls. The only surprise, the scorer of winning goal, Ryan Taylor. The Scouse utility man etched his name in Newcastle history when his free-kick looped over the head Simon Mignolet and into the top corner of the net.
Sunderland had dominated the game for large periods of the first-half but faded badly in the second 45 as Newcastle grew into the contest before Taylor's strike sealed glory for Alan Pardew's men.
The result was little more than Newcastle deserved as they were denied a blatant penalty in the first-half as Sebastian Larsson prevented a Joey Barton header from crossing the line by palming the ball out of play. Barton and the rest of the Newcastle side protested vehemently to referee Howard Webb and the linesman on the near side but their protestations fell on deaf ears as neither official appeared to get a proper view of the incident.
For as much as Newcastle were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, Sunderland were arguably just as unlucky not to have scored themselves as the lively Stephane Sessegnon crafted a number of chances in a vain attempt to give the Black Cats the lead. A series of bad tackles set the tone for what would follow in the second half as first Yohan Cabaye was booked for a high challenge on Phil Bardsley before tempers began to flare slightly following a late Lee Cattermole tackle on Joey Barton.
Steve Bruce's side ended the first period in the ascendancy as Asamoah Gyan's curling effort narrowly crept over the bar. The second half performance from the home side will have many Sunderland fans scratching their heads as to what Steve Bruce said at Half Time as all the momentum they had possessed in the early stages evaporated and Newcastle took a stranglehold on the contest.
Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Guttierez were particularly impressive for the Magpies and it was a typically strong and surging run from the Argentine Gutierrez that won the free-kick that led to Newcastle's winning goal as the Argentine was brought down on the edge of the area.
It was left to Taylor to do the rest and the former Wigan man, who scored so many for the Latics in the past against Newcastle, didn't disappoint as he delivered a perfectly placed free-kick which left a despairing Mignolet stranded and nestled in the top corner sending the visiting Toon Army into raptures.
From that point on it was a relative stroll in the park for Alan Pardew's men as Sunderland laboured to try and find an equaliser. There was still time for more spice and a predictable derby-day red card, first the spice as Cattermole was booked for a scything challenge on Gutierrez, the tackle led to a melee that had been brewing throughout the game which resulted in Barton and Bardsley both being booked for their involvement in the incident.
It was Bardsley however who proved to be the deserving recipient of the derby-day dismissal as he was shown a second yellow late in the game for a horror tackle on Coloccini which television replays showed would have been worthy of a straight red. The sending-off killed the game as a contest, but Newcastle had been coping comfortably long before Bardsley had been sent from the field as Pardew's decision to take off the intelligent Cabaye and switch to 5-4-1 quelled the Sunderland attack with Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor impressive yet again.
In truth Newcastle could have by more by the end, Joey Barton was again denied a goal as his effort was correctly chalked off for offside, while substitute Dan Gosling spurned a late chance to score his first Newcastle goal and give the Geordies the 2 goal lead their play probably deserved.
It mattered not as the contest lulled to its conclusion and Alan Pardew added his name to the list of victorious managers in Tyne/Wear derby history, lifting considerable pressure that had been placed on him due to recent inactivity in the transfer market. The challenge now for Pardew and Newcastle, is to push on from this result and gather early season momentum.
Man of the Match: Yohan Cabaye - It would be easy to give it to Coloccini, who was imperious yet again, but I've plumped for Cabaye. The Frenchman was neat and comfortable in possession and battled well in the midfield which compensated for the relatively poor performance of his midfield partner Cheick Tiote. Very impressive for his first ever Tyne/Wear derby. Jonas Gutierrez also deserves an honourable mention.
Moment of the Match - Easy one this, Ryan Taylor's winning goal, horrible from a Sunderland perspective, but wonderful in every way from a Newcastle one. A beautifully weighted free-kick that clinched victory and put the noisy neighbours back in their place once more.
Player Ratings:
Krul - 7
Simpson - 5
S.Taylor - 7
Coloccini - 8
R. Taylor - 7
Barton - 5
Tiote - 6
Cabaye - 8
Gutierrez - 7.5
Obertan - 5
Ameobi - 6
Subs:
Williamson - 6
Gosling - 6
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