Black Cats earn Hammers draw

Ten-man Sunderland come from two down to earn point

By Jamie Casey   Last updated: 31st October 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Black Cats earn Hammers draw

Richardson: Equaliser

Man of the Match: Andy Reid was behind much of Sunderland's play with another sublime performance.

Goal of the Match: Reid again as he got his side back in the match with his beautifully curled free-kick.

Save of the Match: Rob Green pulled off a stunning stop to deny a thumping header from Turner in the 49th minute.

Moment of the Match: A moment of madness from Kenwyne Jones saw the striker rightfully dismissed in first-half stoppage time.

Talking point: Why do West Ham under-perform against ten men? Are Sunderland good enough to push for Europe?


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Sunderland and West Ham both finished up with ten men as they battled to an enthralling 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Kenwyne Jones received a straight red card in first half stoppage time for reacting angrily to a challenge from Herita Ilunga with his side 2-1 down at that point.

The big striker shoved the West Ham full-back to the ground leaving referee Andre Marriner no option but to hand him his marching orders.

Earlier in the game, Mexican striker Guillermo Franco had given the Hammers the lead before Carlton Cole continued his fine run of form by doubling the away side's advantage on 36 minutes.

The hosts were back in the game just three minutes later, however, as Andy Reid bent in a fine free-kick from the edge of the area as Sunderland began their comeback.

Jones' dismissal did little to stop the comeback as the home side emerged for the second-half with renewed urgency, performing much better than they did with eleven men.

The Black Cats bombarded the West Ham goal with wave after wave of attacks but it was not until the 76th minute that they equalised as Kieran Richardson volleyed home at the back post.

Sunderland looked the likelier team to grab a winner, and their cause was aided by the second booking awarded to West Ham midfielder Radoslav Kovac with three minutes remaining.

The home side could not find a winner, however, with striker Darren Bent having an off day in front of goal in particular.

The draw was no less than Steve Bruce's side deserved for a performance of real determination in an end-to-end second period and they might even had won it had leading scorer Bent taken one of the numerous chances that came his way.

Bent came close to marking his return from injury with a goal in the sixth minute.

Jones' deflected shot fell kindly for captain Lorik Cana in the left of the area and the Albania international picked out Bent with his cross, but the striker's header went wide of the right post.

The tenacious Cana was booked in the 11th minute for a foul on Mark Noble. Cana then left his mark on Franco with another thunderous challenge, but referee Andre Marriner deemed it fair.

Opener

The visitors went ahead against the run of play in the 30th minute when Jack Collison ran on to a ball down the right channel and, having been correctly ruled onside, pulled it back for Franco, a summer signing from Villarreal, to side-foot home at the near post.

Gianfranco Zola's men almost made it two four minutes later but Craig Gordon athletically saved Cole's effort from inside the area.

The England man did score in the 36th minute, though, when his diagonal run was picked out by Collison's reverse ball and, after taking a touch, he slotted his finish past Gordon.

And it might have been worse for he hosts had Nyron Nosworthy not been given the benefit of the doubt when he looked like he might have brought down Cole as last man.

Valon Behrami was then booked for a foul on Steed Malbranque on the edge of the area, to the right of centre, and Reid took full advantage from the free-kick.

The Irishman curled it left-footed over the wall and into the near top corner to bring his side back into the match in the 38th minute.

But things got worse for Bruce's men when Jones was given a straight red in first-half stoppage time.

The striker was fouled by Ilunga and retaliated by pushing him in the chest and face with both hands.

Second period

Franco almost had a second two minutes after the restart when he met Noble's right-wing corner, but Gordon did well to save his downward header.

Robert Green then kept the visitors in front with two quickfire saves, first pushing Bent's low shot behind for a corner and then superbly parrying Michael Turner's header from the resulting set piece.

The 10 men were fired up and Bent should have levelled in the 51st minute.

The former Tottenham forward turned inside a defender in the right of the area, but as Green came out could only blaze his left-footed effort high and wide.

The Black Cats came desperately close in the 65th minute when Cana's header after a Reid corner came back off the crossbar and, from the rebound, Paula Da Silva's header was tipped on to the bar and behind by Green.

The momentum was with the hosts and Richardson pulled Sunderland level in the 76th minute.

Bent's cross from the right was deflected off Upson and looped high over the head of Green to the back post where the unmarked Richardson was on hand to help it home.

Cole then burst through the middle only to be denied by a last-ditch challenge from Nosworthy before he could shoot.

West Ham were reduced to 10 men in the 87th minute when Kovac was sent off, having picked up a second yellow for a foul on Bent.

The striker was handed a chance to win it moments later after running on to a long ball, but lashed his left-footed effort well wide.

The hosts then had Turner to thank after he cleared Noble's low shot off the line, while Bent just failed to connect at the back post with Jordan Henderson's hanging cross from the right as a thrilling contest ended all square.

SunderlandTeam StatisticsWest Ham United
2Goals2
11st Half Goals2
7Shots on Target8
10Shots off Target7
4Blocked Shots2
7Corners3
12Fouls17
2Offsides0
3Yellow Cards2
1Red Cards1
75.3Passing Success71.2
34Tackles22
76.5Tackles Success81.8
56.4Possession43.6
63.2Territorial Advantage36.8
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Comments (6)

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Keith Hutton (Sunderland fan) says...

West ham have a long winter in front of them on this showing, the league table doesn't lie and the Irons were woeful, they were two golas ahead against the run of play but S'land had too much spirit for them Zola must be a very worried manager

Posted 11:38 2nd November 2009

Alan Robinson (Sunderland fan) says...

Jones only reacted to the head butt to his chest not the tackle, we see him week in, week out copping bad tackles that refs always seem to choose, to ignore. Fantastic game keep it going.

Posted 10:12 2nd November 2009

Balto Kiera (Sunderland fan) says...

West ham will go down this season and thats not by this performance only but i have watched them a few times and they are poor.Sunderland gifted west ham 2 goals and pulled one back got a man sent off (west ham had a man sent off late on in 88th min so didnt afect play) all in the first half and second half totally out played west ham with ten men on to west hams 12 as the ref warriner was shocking and biased.west ham after being 2 nill up and playing a ten man sunderland for over half the game were very fortunate to get a point (altho they had a couple of chances second half because of extra man),sunderland could and should of wrapped the game up in the second half they were brilliant chances galore.Also i must say west hams support was poor,it was the poorest away support we have had at the SOL since pompey last season,(another team with overatted fans pompey who by my experience are the same size of wigans support and as quiet as west hams, thats no disrespect to wigan as i actually think there support is decent for a small town and rugby competition etc 1 in 4 people in wigan go to the games so not bad)In terms of numbers of hammers they were not the worst not good either but god were they quiet,sang one song twice when they scored 2 goals and yes you guessed it blowing bubbles no passion at all, i know its not easy to outsing us mackems but you could try.

Posted 22:13 31st October 2009

Pop 2829 (Sunderland fan) says...

always had respect for West Ham until today, all game they moaned , begged the ref to dish out yellow cards, even a bit of cheating and conning , pity they cant show Zola they can play football like he could play with respect for fellow players. you get what you get in this game and i am pleased to say to West Ham fans you wont get a ref like you did today very often. Good luck to you , you are going to need it to stop up .

Posted 20:32 31st October 2009

Howard Middlemiss (Sunderland fan) says...

Well done Sunderland for staging a fantastic comeback. Some real quality football and with a little more luck could have won - Cana was awesome. Disappointed with WHU players - I lost count of the number of their players who were trying to get Sunderland players booked. Referee had at best an aweful game, he was inconsistent missing many key incidents - very biased springs to mind.

Posted 17:55 31st October 2009

Michael Tuckwell (Sunderland fan) says...

Ilunga Ilunga Ilunga you cunning little man. See now heres where it gets confusing, the man clearly over reacts and Jones gets the red card and Ilunga gets yellow so how does that work? The ref is clearly saying he knows Ilunga was trying to decieve him by over reacting so why on earth send jones off if he knows the spat was'nt that serious??? The ref ruined what would of been a better game if he was'nt too card happy! Anyway enough about incompetent decisions and oscar winning performances on to the game and it was a great one. The lads never say die attitude deserves merit and to be honest we deserved to win. We should be defeating teams like West Ham day in day out to prove we belong here but one point is always better than a kick up the backside. Bent was our main man today very unlucky with a handful of chances and I dare say that on his day each one of them would of been netted just wait and see what he does to Spurs next week he will prove one hell of a point against his old employers. Its good to see that even with 10 men we can go onto get a result lets just hope the official is a little more clued up and uses common sence instead of his cards!

Posted 17:42 31st October 2009
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