EPL: Sunderland Fires Manager Martin O'Neill After Loss to United

It has not been the best of times at the Stadium of Light this season, and Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill finally paid the price for his club's lack of form.

Sunderland's official Twitter account reported that the club and O'Neill had parted ways. The club also released a statement on its sacking of O'Neill (via SAFC.com).

The statement on the Sunderland website is brief but gets the point across.

"

The club has parted company with manager Martin O'Neill.

Sunderland AFC has announced that it has parted company with manager Martin O’Neill this evening.

The club would like to place on record its thanks to Martin and wishes him well for the future.

An announcement will be made in the coming days regarding a successor.

"

The final match of the O'Neill tenure on Tyneside saw the Black Cats lose to league leaders Manchester United on an own goal by Titus Bramble on Saturday.

The loss extended the club's league winless streak to eight matches. The last match that the Black Cats won was against Wigan on January 19 on the road. Sunderland's last home win was back on January 12 against West Ham.

The eight-match winless streak has seen the Black Cats drop down to 16th place in the table, and they are in for a major relegation battle for the rest of the season. 

O'Neill took over as Sunderland's manager on December 3, 2011 and led the Black Cats to a 13th-place finish last season. The Northern Ireland native has also managed at Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa in the last two decades, and he will surely pop up on a club's radar sooner rather than later.

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