Manchester City vs. Sunderland: Winners and Losers from Premier League Match
Manchester City temporarily pulled level on points with Premier League leaders Chelsea following their 3-2 triumph over Sunderland on New Year's Day.
After a mostly dour first half, Yaya Toure opened the scoring for City. Shortly after Stevan Jovetic put the hosts two goals in front, Jack Rodwell pulled one back for the Black Cats.
Three minutes after that Adam Johnson equalised from the penalty spot, but just moments later substitute midfielder Frank Lampard scored the eventual winner with a fine header from Gael Clichy's cross.
Overall, there were several standout performances on Thursday and one or two that were rather less impressive.
Following are the individual winners and losers from the encounter.
Winner: Stevan Jovetic, Who Scored and Assisted
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With Sergio Aguero still injured, Manchester City needed a big performance from striker Stevan Jovetic on Thursday, and that's exactly what they got.
Twelve minutes after the restart, the Montenegro international set up Yaya Toure for the game's opening goal, and in the 66th minute, he turned Gael Clichy's cross from the left past Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon with a highlight-reel flick of the ball.
The 25-year-old has now scored five Premier League goals this season.
Loser: Santiago Vergini, Who Was Overrun on His Flank
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Santiago Vergini spent much of Thursday afternoon on the back-foot, and in the second half Manchester City's Gael Clichy skinned him time and again.
On both the Stevan Jovetic and Frank Lampard goals, Clichy was able to get in behind the Sunderland right-back far too easily. As the game wore on, it became clear the hosts favoured attacking the 26-year-old to Billy Jones, who ended up winning the visitors' penalty.
Sunderland centre-backs Wes Brown and John O'Shea were generally solid, but they were let down by Vergini's performance.
Winner: Yaya Toure, Who Opened the Scoring
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After a mostly uneventful first half, the match was in need of a moment of magic. Yaya Toure provided it in the 57th minute.
Accepting Stevan Jovetic's short pass, the Manchester City midfielder released a curling, rising effort that always had the beating of Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon at the near corner.
CNN's John Sinnott labelled the goal a "stunning strike", and Squawka pointed out that it was the Ivorian's 40th goal in the past four Premier League campaigns.
Winners: The City Old-Boys, Who Nearly Stole a Point for Sunderland
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In the space of three minutes, a pair of former Manchester City players pulled Sunderland back to level terms after going two goals down.
First it was Jack Rodwell, who beat Gael Clichy to head the ball into the back of the net following a corner kick.
Then Adam Johnson converted from the spot after Pablo Zabaleta took down Billy Jones.
Unfortunately for the City old-boys, however, Frank Lampard would come on to win the game for the hosts.
Loser: Pablo Zabaleta, Who Had a Sub-Standard Afternoon
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Pablo Zabaleta wasn't up to standard on Thursday, and his sub-par performance was underlined by a foul on Sunderland left-back Billy Jones that resulted in a penalty.
Adam Johnson proceeded to convert from the spot, and for a time (a very brief one as it turned out) the Black Cats were back on level terms after conceding a pair of second-half goals.
Zabaleta committed three fouls at Etihad Stadium and, according to WhoScored, touched the ball just 49 times—a number well below what is customary for him.
Winner: Frank Lampard, Who Scored the Winner
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A day after Manchester City secured the services of midfielder Frank Lampard until the end of the season, per the BBC, the former Chelsea man popped up with a game-winning goal for the champions.
Introduced as a 70th-minute substitute for Stevan Jovetic, it took the 36-year-old just three minutes to make an impact—his fine header from Gael Clichy's cross beating Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.
As ESPN's Paul Carr reminded Lampard's fans, the goal took the former England international to 176 Premier League tallies and above Thierry Henry on the division's all-time list.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini was quoted by the official club website as saying:
"People ask if I’m impressed with Frank Lampard but you can’t fail to be impressed by him.
He’s been scoring goals like that all of his career and he’s a very important player for us and he will continue to be for the rest of the season.
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