Sunderland 0-3 Newcastle (Ballard OG 35′, Isak 46′, P 90′)
STADIUM OF LIGHT – This was ecstasy unconfined for Newcastle United, a first win in this fixture for 13 years and an opportunity at its conclusion to milk it for all it was worth.
Having braved the most hostile of Wearside welcomes, Newcastle’s irascible assistant boss Jason Tindall summoned the club’s celebrating players for a squad photo in front of the 6,000 strong away end. Group pictures have been a feature of wins under Eddie Howe, but most have been in the confines of the dressing room.
This one felt more like planting a flag in the middle of the Stadium of Light as they celebrated a lop-sided derby that emphasised the gulf between the two sides.
Cheeky? It enraged some of the home fans who were filing out of the ground. But Michael Beale refused to bite afterwards, simply saying it showed how much the win must have meant to Newcastle. For all that rival fans might mock those photos, Howe started the tradition to make sure his players could enjoy the “ups”.
There was potential danger here for Newcastle but Sunderland were unable to make them suffer. The atmosphere they created showed they belong in the Premier League but the performance showed they have plenty of work to do.
The atmosphere matched the build-up, which started at 9am as the first of a convoy of 120 buses set off from St James’ Park , picking up scarves and cereal bars provided by the club. When they arrived, a ring of steel kept red and black apart. There were 600 police officers on duty, many pulled from neighbouring forces, to ensure a febrile atmosphere didn’t boil over.
If only that reception had extended to the pitch. Having let Newcastle decorate one of their bars earlier in the week, Sunderland proceeded to score the first goal of a Tyne-Wear derby that emphasised the gulf between the two sides. Unfortunately, it was in their own net.
The Stadium of Light had the noise, creating an impressively partisan atmosphere, but Newcastle possessed the poise. They were bigger, bolder and simply better than their Championship neighbours, who were committed but unable to leave much of an imprint on Eddie Howe’s side. A 3-0 scoreline was about right.
Until he was withdrawn, Brazil international Joelinton was the best player on the pitch but his compatriot Bruno Guimaraes ran him close. Paris Saint-Germain are said to be interested in a player with a nine-figure release clause in the contract extension he signed last year but Newcastle cannot let him leave.
He is just about the perfect marriage of ability and mentality, roaring at the visiting supporters after one emphatic intervention. He is a £100m player and Sunderland’s squad isn’t worth close to half of that collectively.
So the narrative wasn’t a surprise, even if the home fans did their best to bend it through sheer will. For 15 or so minutes their side fed off the frenzy as Newcastle struggled to impose their Premier League class but the scrappiness did not endure.
Joelinton’s first moment of real class, dashing into the penalty area before pulling the ball back into a six-yard area of uncertainty, teed up Daniel Ballard to divert into his own net. Alexander Isak, superb all afternoon, had been waiting to pounce.
Sunderland were guilty of passivity and naivety. Newcastle should have had more first half goals, Sean Longstaff guilty of lifting a presentable effort over the bar. An early second half strike by Isak, after Miguel Almiron had snaffled the ball from Pierre Ekwah bizarrely trying to play out from the back, settled nerves. Isak’s late penalty gave Newcastle the wide margin their play probably deserved.
For Sunderland, it is a defeat that was expected but still arrives with a reckoning. Their supporters were defiant to the end but the club must heed the warnings of a difficult week if they are to prosper.
For those in positions of power who allowed the biggest PR own goal in the history of this derby, the memories will be difficult to extinguish. Allowing Newcastle to deck one of their bars in black and white and club slogans revealed a disconnect from their public. For owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who threw them under the bus with an Instagram post, a lesson in listening is required. The club has work to do.
And a wake-up call for those at the Stadium of Light who believe their much vaunted model will be enough to close the chasm that has opened up between Sunderland and the Premier League.
They have a team of talented young players but as their struggles to match the speed and fury of Gordon and Joelinton illustrated, they need more. Experience and nous would have given them a chance here. Beale admitted his team would have to be honest with themselves.
A late, energetic rally gives Sunderland something to cling to – would tensions have heightened among the visitors if Alex Pritchard’s effort had dipped under the bar rather than clipped it – but it’s difficult to escape the conclusion they would be eaten alive if they went up.
Tired legs put the tin lid on it in the final minutes as Gordon’s run was checked by Ballard in the penalty area. It was a clear penalty, which Isak stroked home in front of an ecstatic away end celebrating their first derby victory for 13 years.
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