Sorry Sunderland are already resigned to relegation fate
WHEN the final reckoning is cast at the end of this Premier League campaign, David Moyes may reflect on this past week as the moment that Sunderland’s fate was decided.
As Swansea ransacked Anfield and moved out of the relegation zone, Sunderland sank to the bottom of the table. It is hard to see where they go from here.
To understand the bigger picture, you had to listen to Moyes this week admit his club’s limitations in the transfer market, and hear the despondency in his voice as he lamented the outlook.
And then you had to watch this game. You had to see how superior West Brom appeared in every way. At no stage did it ever look as though Sunderland could prevail.
There are caveats — notably a crippling injury list and players away at the African Cup of Nations — but it is hard to credit such excuses when Sunderland are so resigned to their fate.
West Brom’s breakthrough arrived in the 30th minute. A corner came in from the right-hand side and as the ball looped into the air, Gareth McAuley headed the ball in the direction of Darren Fletcher. The execution by Fletcher was majestic, chesting the ball, spinning and volleying into the top corner in one fluid motion.
Six minutes later, the home side went for the kill. The ball broke loose down the right-hand side and Matty Phillips isolated John O’Shea. Phillips nipped by and fired across the goal. Vito Mannone’s hand tipped the ball away, but it fell for Nacer Chadli whose effort clipped the bar. As the ball rebounded, Chris Brunt cut across the ball and sent it searing into the top corner.
‘Two wonderful goals,’ Tony Pulis, the satisfied West Brom manager, said.
For West Brom, it was a third win in four games and they are in eighth place in the table, within touching distance a highest top-flight finish since 1981.
In the second-half, Sunderland did stir a little but there was little to trouble goalkeeper Ben Foster in the home goal.
‘A tough afternoon,’ Moyes said. ‘We conceded two poor goals. The goals cloud everything. We needed more.’ WEST BROM (4-2-3-1): Foster 6; Nyom 6, McAuley 7, Dawson 6, Brunt 7; Fletcher 7.5, Yacob 7; Chadli 6.5 (McClean 81min), Morison 6 (Livermore 72, 6), Phillips 7; Rondon 7 (Robson-Kanu 87). Subs (not used): Myhill, Olsson, Leko, Field. SUNDERLAND (5-3-1-1): Mannone 5.5; Jones 6, O’Shea 4.5, Djilobodji 5, Van Aanholt 6, Denayer 5.5 (Borini 79); Rodwell 5.5, Honeyman 6, Januzaj 4 (Anichebe 66); Larsson 5; Defoe 5.5. Booked: Honeyman. Subs (not used): Domingues, Love, Robson, Robson, Embleton. Referee: C Pawson 7.