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Sunderland 3-0 Blackburn: Welbeck, Bent, Gyan scored
Sunderland made the perfect response to Tuesday's shock home defeat, cruising to a comfortable 3-0 win against Blackburn at the Stadium of Light on Saturday 01/01/2010.
Goals from Danny Welbeck and Darren Bent gave the hosts a comfortable lead inside 20 minutes, and a sluggish Blackburn side never looked like recovering.
Steve Bruce was left utterly bewildered in the wake of Sunderland's surprise 2-0 defeat against Premier League minnows Blackpool on Tuesday, after witnessing his side spurn a host of gilt-edged chances in front of goal.
Any fears of a repeat at the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day were soon put to bed, however, as Welbeck scored the fortuitous opening goal with just 11 minutes played.
A limp Ryan Nelsen clearance fell invitingly to Welbeck on the edge of the area, who took the ball down with his chest before firing a vicious, left-foot shot goalwards.
The ball cannoned off the heel of the onrushing Nelsen, and slipped agonisingly inside Mark Bunn's right-hand post - with the keeper already committed to his left.
The sense of relief across the stadium was tangible, and the Black Cats fans were given an even bigger treat a mere 10 minutes later, when Bent's pin-point header doubled the lead.
Ahmed Elmohamady swung in a stunning, curling delivery from the right wing straight onto the head of the advancing Bent, whose perfectly-placed, glancing header crept past Bunn's outstretched right hand - Bent's first goal in six games.
Blackburn rarely threatened throughout the first half - losing possession far too cheaply in the midfield and struggling to find a way through Titus Bramble and Anton Ferdinand at the heart of the Sunderland defence.
The visitors should, however, have reduced the deficit in the 33rd-minute - but El-Hadji Diouf failed to find the target with a close-range volley from a teasing Morten Gamst Pedersen delivery to the far post.
Steve Bruce would have been delighted with his team's first half performance, particularly after his mid-week declaration that Darren Bent would return to goal-scoring form.
However, his side emerged from the changing-room lacking any urgency, allowing Blackburn to finally exert some pressure in the final third.
Mame Diouf came close to clawing a goal back in the 54th-minute - sending a towering header a yard wide after El-Hadji Diouf's deep cross - and David Dunn hammered a vicious shot over the bar a minute later.
Bent should have doubled his own tally in the 61st minute, but somehow contrived to miss the target from three yards - clipping Kieran Richardson low ball into the box wide of the near post with the goal at his mercy.
Sunderland's home-grown midfielder Jordan Henderson then came even closer to scoring the decisive third goal when, with 12 minutes remaining, he chipped an exquisite shot onto the top of the scrambling Bunn's crossbar.
Bruce's final throw of the dice was to introduce Gyan for Bent - who took a finger to the eye in an innocuous challenge by Nelsen - and the change immediately paid dividends as the Ghanaian summer-signing scored the pick of the goals in the final minute of normal time.
The striker capped a flowing Sunderland counter-attack with a perfectly-placed, curling shot inside Bunn's left hand post, securing a morale-boosting start to 2011 for Steve Bruce's men.
Eurosport
Source: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Team Line-up:
Sunderland: Gordon, Elmohamady, Bramble, Ferdinand, Bardsley, Henderson, Richardson, Meyler, Malbranque, Bent, and Welbeck. Subs: Mignolet, Zenden, Angeleri, Da Silva, Riveros, Cook, Gyan
Blackburn Rovers: Bunn, Givet, Hanley, Nelsen, Olsson, El-Hadji Diouf, Emerton, Dunn, Pedersen, Mame Diouf, and Hoilett. Subs: Fielding, Linganzi, Doran, Mwaruwari, Goulon, Morris, Lowe.
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