Sunderland Revive Season Against Blackburn

Sunderland got their revenge on Blackburn for knocking them out of the Carling Cup four days ago in style.

A terrific 2-1 win that see Sunderland out of relegation zone and hopefully gets them back on track. The win now puts confidence and belief back in the players and fans, and takes a lot of pressure off Roy Keane.

In a match which saw two former players face off in either dugout, Roy Keane and Paul Ince were both hoping to revive their seasons. With Blackburn yet to win a Premiership match since September, the Blackburn team was eager for a win.

But it was Paul Ince's boys who hit off first with center back Christopher Samba heading in the opening goal. It was a shaky first half for Sunderland and Blackburn could have easily had a couple more but Sunderland enter the second half full of life and it was their danger men who provided the answer. Kenwyne Jones and Dijbril Cisse, the two Sunderland strikers, scored great second half goals to enlighten Sunderland's season.

Jones' solid header hammered off the bar for Kieran Richardson to follow up only to see it prodded away by Paul Robinson. Unfortunately for Robinson, the ball fell back to Jones and with an open goal he coolly touched it in.

Cisse showed great balance and strength as he got passed Khizanishvili and calmy slotted it passed Robinson for the winner.

Blackburn now dropped to a disappointing 18th, while Sunderland shot up to 11th. Hopefully Sunderland can keep going and finish in a solid spot.

What the Managers Said

Paul Ince:  “In the first half we should have been three or four up. I’ve had a go at them because I’m upset annoyed and angry. The second half was diabolical.”

Roy Keane: "Last year I had rumours about players in nightclubs, players were saying this, and it seems to happen in the North East. I think on Friday people were very bored because there was no logic to this nonsense."