Black Cats unlucky, but Moyes has them on the right path

DAVID MOYES knows from personal experience that honeymoon periods can be painfully short in Manchester.

Fate brought him back to town for his first Premier League game since he was unceremoniously sacked by Manchester United in April 2014, and Sergio Aguero duly brought the bad memories flooding back less than three minutes into his return as manager of Sunderland.

It was the Argentine who scored twice when City destroyed United 4-1 here a little over a month into Moyes’s ill-fated tenure at Old Trafford. So Moyes could have been forgiven for fearing the worst last night, and even more so when he witnessed the familiar sight of Aguero wheeling away after scoring so early.

It was to Sunderland’s credit that they didn’t crumble, though. That was a quality former boss Sam Allardyce managed to drill into his team just in time to keep them in the Premier League last season, and one that Moyes has maintained if this performance is anything to go by.

They closed ranks, they refused to panic, and they fashioned an equaliser pretty much out of the blue. It was no surprise that it came from the boot of Jermain Defoe, whose goals went so far towards keeping Sunderland up last season. This was his 144th in the topflight, putting the former England striker 10th in the all-time list alongside Robin van Persie.

The move was started by substitute Adnan Januzaj, who has been brought to Sunderland to resurrect his career under his old manager and made a promising start here.

No wonder Moyes launched into a clenched-fist celebration on the touchline before the ball had even hit the back of the net. His head was in his hands in the 87th minute, though, when another substitution backfired. Paddy McNair, also recruited from United this week, had only been on the pitch for four minutes after replacing Defoe when he turned the ball into his own net. Moments later, the final whistle was met with a dejected shake of the head by the new Sunderland boss.

Moyes will reflect on this game and conclude that there wasn’t too much wrong with his team’s performance.

They were, after all, playing away against last season’s Champions League semi-finalists who have strengthened their squad to the tune of £150million.

Sunderland have no such luxury. Allardyce was at the Etihad yesterday and will have noted that six of Moyes’s first line-up also started the win over Everton in March that confirmed their Premier League status.

It will take time to get the team playing the way he wants. And as much as the result will sting, Moyes of all people will appreciate that it could have been a lot worse.