Cats' fire Stoked by Styles clanger; James Hunter's MATCH ANALSIS.Byline: James Hunter SUNDERLAND 2 STOKE CITY 0 REFEREE Rob Styles got out of jail at the Stadium of Light after an astonishing blunder which could have cost Sunderland a vital victory against Stoke. As it was, strikers Kenwyne Jones and David Healy scored in the final quarter of an hour to see off the Potters - and let Styles off the hook. The hapless Styles was in the spotlight after he missed a blatant handball on the goalline from Danny Pugh Danny Pugh (born 19 October, 1982, in Manchester, England) is a professional footballer. He currently plays for Preston North End, with whom he signed a 3 year deal on the 21 June 2006. He was Paul Simpson's first signing as Preston North End manager. in the first half which denied Steed Malbranque Steed Malbranque (born January 6 1980 in Mouscron, Belgium) is a Belgian-born French footballer, currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur. Lyon He was a trainee at Lyon between the years of 1995-97 during which time he won the Under-15 championship twice, the Under-17 Cup a certain goal. Had he - or his equally clueless clue·less adj. Lacking understanding or knowledge. clueless Adjective Slang helpless or stupid Adj. 1. assistant - spotted Pugh's two-handed 'save,' the Stoke defender would have seen red and the Black Cats would have been awarded a penalty. It came just a week after another high-profile mistake from Howard Webb Howard Melton Webb (born july 14 1971) is an English football referee in the FA Premier League. He is based in Rotherham, Yorkshire.[1] His first game in the Premiership was on 18 October 2003, when he took charge of the 0 - 0 draw between Fulham and Wolves. gifted Newcastle a penalty equaliser in the Tyne-Wear derby, which cost Sunderland two points. Wearside boss Ricky Sbragia Richard "Ricky" Sbragia (born May 26 1956 in Lennoxtown, Scotland) is a Scottish football coach and former footballer. He was appointed as first-team coach of Bolton Wanderers on October 10 2005[1] and is currently the caretaker manager of Bolton. was furious with Styles, but relieved at least this poor decision had not cost his side. He said: Situations like that can cost you. "The one last week cost us points, but thankfully this one did not. "Even from where we were on the bench, we could see it was a definite penalty. "I can understand maybe there are people in front of the referee, but I cannot understand how the linesman has not seen it. "It was blatant penalty but Pugh got away with it. "I thought Tommy Sorensen was the goalkeeper, but all of a sudden it seemed to be Danny Pugh. "We all make mistakes in life and that is what this was - an honest mistake. "Sometimes it would be nice if referees came to us and said 'I have absolutely cocked-up.' "Styles did not give it but he is off the hook. If it had ended 0-0 we might have complained a bit more about it!" Despite Pugh's let-off, Stoke still ended up playing the final 25 minutes with 10 men after Matthew Etherington Matthew Etherington (born August 14 1981 in Truro, Cornwall) is an English football player. Etherington, a left-sided midfielder and winger, currently plays for Premier League club West Ham United. was dismissed for a crazy kick at Danny Collins Danny Collins (born August 6 1980 in Chester, England) is a is a Wales international footballer who currently plays for Sunderland as a defender. Club career Early Career He began his career in the Cymru Alliance with local sides Mold Alexandra and Buckley Town. in retaliation for having his shirt pulled. Sunderland were good value for their win after dominating against Stoke, whose own game plan was wrecked after losing three players through injury - and using all three subs - within half-an-hour. Jones brought a good save out of ex-Sunderland goalkeeper Sorensen with only eight minutes gone. Then, after Richard Cresswell had gone close with an ambitious overhead-kick at the other end, Danny Collins missed a great headed chance to break the deadlock in the 15th minute. After Stoke had survived the penalty appeal on 39 minutes, only a goalline clearance from Steven Kelly prevented Collins' looping header dropping into the net in first-half injury time. On 65 minutes Collins was booked for his foul on Etherington - and the Stoke man saw red for his reacting. The free-kick - given for the original foul by Collins - gave the Potters their best chance of the match. The free-kick was headed down in the box, but debutant De`bu`tant´ n. 1. A person who makes his (or her) first appearance before the public. Henri Camara  Henri Camara (born May 10, 1977 in Dakar, Senegal) is a Senegalese footballer who is on loan at West Ham United, from Wigan Athletic of the English FA Premier League. somehow managed to smash his shot against the bar from only three yards
out.
Jones headed the Wearsiders in front with 12 minutes to go before Healy made sure of the points in the final minute of injury-time. Sunderland's second clean sheet in a row at home proved Sbragia was right to stick with Anton Ferdinand Anton Julian Ferdinand (born February 18, 1985 in Peckham, London) is an English football player, currently playing for West Ham United. He plays as a central defender. Background Born into a footballing family (both his brother Rio and cousin Les[1] and Collins in central defence and make loan signings Tal Ben-Haim Tal Ben-Haim (Hebrew: טל בן-חיים, born March 31, 1982 in Rishon LeZion, Israel) is an Israeli professional football player. and Calum Davenport wait for their debuts. He added: "The clean sheet was very pleasing. "I considered making a change for this game, but in the end I decided to keep it the way it was because they had done so well at Newcastle in the last league game. "They did not do so well at Blackburn in the FA Cup, but this was a chance for them to rectify it and they did that." Sunderland's win means they have taken seven points from their last three games and are up to 11th place, with a seven-point cushion between themselves and the relegation zone. Hunter's verdict JUSTICE was done in the end - but no thanks to the officials! KEY MOMENT Matthew Eetherington's harsh second-half sending off turned the game Sunderland's way. SUPER SAVE Danny Pugh's brilliant two-handed save from Malbranque's close range header which denied the Black Cats a certain goal five minutes before halftime. Unfortunately, referee Rob Styles and his assistant must have missed it! TOP SHOT Carlos Edwards' right-foot volley which swerved inches past the left hand post in the 73rd minute. FOR THE RECORD David Healy's goal was his first Premier League strike for Sunderland. NEXT MATCH A visit to Arsenal a week on Saturday (3.00) STARMARKS Sunderland MARTON FULOP 6 Hardly had a shot to save PHIL BARDSLEY 7 Kept Matthew Etherington well under control and pushed forward whenever he could too ANTON FERDINAND 7 Never put a foot wrong DANNY COLLINS 7 Won almost everything in the air george McCartney 7 Strong defensively, and was also a threat bombing forward STEED MALBRANQUE 6 Quiet by his standards DEAN WHITEHEAD 7 Did all the hard graft in midfield KIERAN RICHARDSON 7 His energy caused Stoke problems ANDY REID 5 His passing and set-pieces were below par KENWYNE JONES 7 Scored one goal, made the other DJIBRIL CISSE CISSE International Joint Conferences on Computer Information and Systems Sciences and Engineering CISSE Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education 5 Not at his best Substitutes CARLOS EDWARDS 7 For Malbranque (70 mins). His pace on the flanks stretched Stoke. DARYL MURPHY For Reid (82 mins). DAVID HEALY For Cisse (86 mins). Not used: Tal Ben Haim, Calum Davenport, Grant Leadbitter, Craig Gordon. Stoke City TEAM: Sorensen 6, Wilkinson 6, Shawcross 5, Abdoulaye Faye 7, Kelly 6, Cresswell 6, Diao 6, Whelan 6, Etherington 6, Beattie 5, Fuller 5. Subs: Pugh (for Wilkinson, 16 mins) 6, Sonko (for Shawcross, 26 mins) 6, Camara (for Fuller, 30 mins) 5. Not used: Simonsen, Olofinjana, Lawrence, Kit-son. MATCH STATS GOALS 1-0 (Jones, 78 mins): Andy Reid crossed from the left corner of the box and Kenwyne Jones got above Abdoulaye Faye six yards out to head down and in through the tightest of gaps at the foot of the right-hand post. 2-0 (Healy, 90 mins): Jones turned Faye inside the box and dragged a cross-shot across the goal from right to left, but Healy stole in at the far post to sidefoot home from six yards out. BOOKINGS Sunderland: Collins 65 mins (foul); Bardsley 82 mins (unsporting behaviour). Stoke City: Diao 57 mins (unsporting behaviour). SENDING OFF Stoke City: Etherington 65 mins (retaliation). REFEREE ROB STYLES (Hampshire) 2 Where do they find these people? How did he fail to see Danny Pugh's handball in the first half? ATTENDANCE 38,350. www.sunderlandbanter.co.uk CAPTION(S): NO HOLDS BARD: Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley holds off a challenge from Stake's Salif Diao during the Black Cats' victory at the Stadium of Light |
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