How are the mighty falling, say it not as the Premier League leader, Chelsea, that was convincingly beaten as it succumbed to a sparkling Sunderland display. Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic escaped a red card for fouling Danny Welbeck but Nedum Onuoha went past three defenders and shot home to put Sunderland ahead.
Asamoah Gyan expertly guided in a shot after a well-worked Black Cats move to leave the home side rattled. The lively Welbeck secured a memorable Sunderland win when he side-footed in from Ashley Cole's poor backpass.
The pace, movement and energy of Sunderland's strike duo of Gyan and Welbeck were the foundation of the Black Cats’ win but they were backed up by a steely defence and industrious midfield.
The solo effort from Onuoha was a delight, Gyan's ruthlessly taken effort was a reward for a slick move and Welbeck's goal near the end was his just desserts for an impressive individual performance.
At times, champion Chelsea was overwhelmed as it suffered a first defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge and, more importantly, had its top-flight lead cut to two points, following Arsenal's win at Everton earlier on Sunday. There was plenty to admire about a vibrant Sunderland as it beat a Chelsea side who gave its title rival plenty of encouragement with a display that showed signs of susceptibility.
The Blues were found wanting from a test of their resolve, having endured the awkwardness of the departure of assistant manager, Ray Wilkins, on Thursday and the news that Frank Lampard's injury absence would run into December. The team suffered a further setback ahead of the game when influential captain and centre-back, John Terry, was ruled out with a back injury, forcing full-back, Paulo Ferreira, to fill in at the heart of the defence.
Lampard's continued spell on the sidelines as well as the suspension of fellow midfielder, Michael Essien, also put more emphasis on the contributions of Ramires and Yury Zhirkov, who both started in their side's defeat at Liverpool last Sunday. Initially, Chelsea appeared to have reacted well to the task at hand and, after John Mikel Obi lofted a delightful ball to release Nicolas Anelka, Black Cats’ keeper, Craig Gordon, came out to bravely palm the ball away from the striker.
Zhirkov showed quick feet to work his way into a shooting position only to drag his effort wide before Sunderland took a grip of the game in emphatic style.
Source:http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/sports/2010/nov/15/sports-15-11-2010-001.htm
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