Best Moments from the Sunderland vs. Manchester City Match

On paper, Sunday’s Capital One Cup final was not exactly a competitive matchup. At No. 4, Manchester City were the heavy favorites, and Sunderland, hovering in relegation territory at the bottom of the Premier League, were given little chance.

The Black Cats have played some of their best soccer this season at the Capital One Cup, defeating No. 1 Chelsea in their quarterfinal match in December, but have otherwise had a dismal 6-6-14 season.

Though the Blues ultimately took home the trophy with a 3-1 win, City were made to work for it in a match that was expected to be easily theirs.

Here are some of the highlight moments from the match.

10 min: The opening minutes of the game featured slightly nervy play, with both teams’ drives easily cleared, but Sunderland broke through first, shocking City and the crowd with a goal at the 10-minute mark.

Fabio Borini outpaced Martin Demichelis and easily held off Vincent Kompany to find the back of the net and put Sunderland in the lead.

For much of the early going, Sunderland were the more aggressive team, while City seemed content to react and looked out of sync from the start. On the Borini goal, Demichelis and Kompany were positioned entirely too passively, allowing the Italian to find an opening and capitalize.

14 min: Sunderland continued to be the aggressor, with Borini taking another shot from outside the box. A minute later, Wes Brown put the Black Cats on the attack again, heading a corner kick from Sebastian Larsson wide.

20 min-halftime: City reasserted their dominance, controlling play and moving the ball into the Sunderland half to keep pressure on the Black Cats’ defense. Still trailing by a goal, the Blues failed to come up with anything before the 45-minute mark. Despite the increased attack, City were still thoroughly disengaged. The Guardian’s Ian McCourt wrote, “Toure is limping and moping around the pitch like a teenager has been told he can’t go out on a Friday night with his mates.”

Despite their attitude (and the score), the Blues still controlled the first half of the game. 

While the stats tilted in City’s favor, Sunderland’s lead at halftime was the story of the match. The Blues’ play was not remotely close to their highest level through the first 45 minutes, but the Black Cats stepped up and seized the moment.

Martin Lipton, via The Mirror, said at halftime:

"

Hands up, who saw that coming (not including the 40-odd thousand wearing red and white here at Wembley)? Nobody could argue Sunderland not value for their lead, and a terrific finish by Borini. Poyet has out-thought Pellegrini so far, with the Black Cats brilliantly resilient and countering with genuine conviction.

"

55-56 mins: Just as soon as it started for Sunderland, it all came crashing down. City came out of the gates flying, going on the attack early and scoring two goals in as many minutes to take the lead. Yaya Toure was the first to score, netting the tying goal from 25 yards out with the help of Pablo Zabaleta.

Barely a minute later, Samir Nasri put the Blues in the lead. Sunderland were disorganized following the kick-off, giving the City frontline too much space to move forward, and a perfectly placed cross from Aleksandar Kolarov set up Nasri’s curling goal into the corner of the net.

Though the second half had only just begun, the momentum had entirely swung in City’s favor, and the dominant squad were in prime position to take home the title after an incredible second-half resurgence.

66-70 min: Despite a deflating shift in the score, Sunderland hung tough, continuing to play as aggressively as they had during the first half. A free-kick and subsequent corner put the Black Cats in scoring position in front of the City goal, and while the Blues managed to clear both, Sunderland refused to bow down.

90 min: Both teams continued to play aggressively through the rest of regulation, with Sunderland coming close to leveling the score on multiple occasions, but to no avail. Whatever hope the Black Cats had was snuffed out in the final minute before stoppage time with a goal from Jesus Navas.

Navas, who came in at halftime for Sergio Aguero, flanked a 5-on-2 breakaway counterattack on the Sunderland half. An assist from Toure set Navas up for the final goal of the game. 

After a stunning first half, Sunderland let up ever so slightly in the second, and with that inch, City went a mile. Clearly the more talented team, the Blues stormed back to show why they are some of the best, and the trophy went to the more deserving team on Sunday.

That said, Sunderland exhibited an impressive performance to make City earn the title, and the Black Cats can take away a lot of positives from today’s final.