Sunderland vs. Manchester City: Score, Grades and Reaction from EPL Game
Demons banished, the title defence remains alive.
Manchester City kept pace with Premier League leaders Chelsea on Wednesday night, coming from behind to defeat Sunderland 4-1 for their first victory at the Stadium of Light since 2008.
Sergio Aguero and Stevan Jovetic scored in the first half for City after Connor Wickham had given Sunderland the lead with a deflected strike. Pablo Zabaleta and Aguero then netted in the second half to seal the points.
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Aguero's two goals extended his league-leading total to 14 this season, three ahead of Chelsea's Diego Costa. As BBC Radio 5 Live hinted on Twitter, Aguero ranks among the world's top strikers at the moment:
With the win, second-placed City remain six points behind leaders Chelsea, who won at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Manuel Pellegrini's side have now won three straight league matches and will hold renewed hope of chasing down their London rivals for what would be a second consecutive Premier League title.
Not that City were ever out of the race. Despite enduring a three-match winless run early in the season, Pellegrini said he never lost hope.
"We were never out of the fight for the title," Pellegrini said, via the Manchester Evening News. "I always say the same answer. We have to play 25, 26 more games, too many points to decide the champions this year."
City will also take heart from ending a five-match winless run at the Stadium of Light. The Sky Blues had lost on their previous four trips to Sunderland, each by the same 1-0 score.
Coming off a scoreless draw at home to Chelsea at the weekend, Sunderland had been hoping for a second straight positive result against a title contender. Instead, Gus Poyet's Black Cats suffered their fourth loss of the season and failed to increase the two-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
Up next, Manchester City host Everton on Saturday. Sunderland play at Liverpool the same day.
Despite the final scoreline, the first clear chance fell to Sunderland in the sixth minute as Will Buckley raced free down the right. Buckley pulled back into the middle for Jack Rodwell, whose side-footed shot was blocked by Zabaleta.
Zabaleta wasn't quite as fortunate 13 minutes later as Sunderland took the lead. Lee Cattermole created the scoring chance with a fine pass through to Wickham in the middle. Wickham lost control, though, the ball rolling into the path of Zabaleta. But as the City defender tried to clear, the ball hit Wickham's foot and caromed into the net for the opening goal in the 19th minute.
Sunderland once again led City by that familiar 1-0 scoreline. This time, however, it didn't last.
City needed only two minutes to pull level, and the goalscorer's identity was no surprise. Sunderland's defence switched off momentarily as Aguero accepted a pass from Jovetic outside the box, allowing the little striker to dance into the box and rifle an unstoppable shot past Costel Pantilimon at the near post.
Back on level terms, City quickly began to dominate, and in the 39th minute, Pellegrini's side took the lead through Jovetic. Yaya Toure started the move with a low, driven pass to Aguero near the edge of the box.
With his first touch, Aguero chipped a cushioned pass into the path of Jovetic, who blasted a first-time shot through Pantilimon's legs.
The third goal arrived in the 55th minute, and it was from the top drawer. Facing a packed Sunderland defence near the right corner of the box, Zabaleta passed to Samir Nasri before continuing his run in the direction of the byline. After receiving a clever pass back from Nasri, Zabaleta chipped past Pantilimon with his first touch for a 3-1 City lead.
City weren't finished, either. In the 71st minute, Aguero netted his second—and his side's fourth of the match. James Milner provided the assist with a lofted pass from the right, and Aguero nipped in front of his marker to poke his finish in off the near post.
Aguero left the match shortly thereafter, making way for substitute Frank Lampard in the 74th minute. By that time, City held a tight grip on the match, and after seeing out the final stages uneventfully, Pellegrini's side had another three points.
Grades
| Costel Pantilimon | 6.0 |
| Santiago Vergini | 7.0 |
| John O'Shea | 6.4 |
| Sebastian Coates | 6.6 |
| Anthony Reveillere | 7.0 |
| Lee Cattermole | 6.8 |
| Connor Wickham | 7.8 |
| Sebastian Larsson | 7.7 |
| Jack Rodwell | 7.1 |
| Will Buckley | 6.2 |
| Steven Fletcher | 5.9 |
| Jozy Altidore (for Fletcher, 55') | 6.2 |
| Ricardo Alvarez (for Wickham, 67') | 6.4 |
| Joe Hart | 6.2 |
| Pablo Zabaleta | 8.3 |
| Dedryck Boyata | 7.3 |
| Martin Demichelis | 7.1 |
| Gael Clichy | 7.6 |
| Jesus Navas | 6.8 |
| Yaya Toure | 6.8 |
| Fernandinho | 7.0 |
| Stevan Jovetic | 7.6 |
| Samir Nasri | 7.2 |
| Sergio Aguero | 9.2 |
| James Milner (for Jovetic, 56') | 7.1 |
| Frank Lampard (for Aguero, 74') | 6.1 |
| Jose Pozo (for Nasri, 83') | 6.0 |
Reaction
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini (via MCFC.co.uk):
"We are playing very well and we repeated the same performance we did against Southampton—we were very strong. I am very happy because I always say it is important to be an attractive, offensive team so the fans can enjoy the game. In the last three games, we have scored ten goals. We are trying to have an important amount of goals every game and it is important to defend well also.
"
