SUNDERLAND ................................................................ 3 All hail the King in a majestic win for Cats
CHRIS Maguire scored a goal of the month contender as Sunderland swept Southend United aside to notch their fourth straight League One win.
Skipper George Honeyman had headed the Black Cats in front on the half-hour and sub Aiden McGeady put the icing on the cake when he added the third ten minutes from time.
However, it was Maguire’s screamer early in the second half which had the fans on their feet to salute the King at the Stadium of Light, a 30-yard blockbuster which found the top left-hand corner.
The Scot picked up League One’s September Goal of the Month award on Friday and this one will take some beating for the October edition.
The win was Sunderland’s fourth in a row in the league – their best run since Gus Poyet’s side managed four on the bounce to complete the Miracle Escape in 2014 – and their fifth in all competitions if you add in the Checkatrade Trophy victory over Carlisle United.
Sunderland remain third in the table, a point behind second-placed Peterborough, but they again cut the gap on leaders Portsmouth who are now only three points ahead – and the Black Cats have a game in hand of both teams above them.
Jack Ross named an unchanged starting XI, keeping faith with the same side which won at Doncaster Rovers in midweek.
That meant Bryan Oviedo, who was available again after serving a three-game suspension, and nine-goal leading goalscorer Josh Maja, who missed the Doncaster game due to an ankle injury, had to settle for places on the bench.
Southend boss Chris Powell made two changes to the side which beat Walsall on Tuesday, both of them forced upon him due to injuries.
Former Sunderland defender Michael Turner came into the side in place of Harry Lennon, while Simon Cox replaced Tom Hopper.
Sunderland came flying out of the blocks and could have gone in front inside three minutes, Jerome Sinclair’s header clawed away at full stretch by Mark Oxley.
Lee Cattermole fired wide from range, while at the other end Dru Yearwood sent a shot over the bar from the edge of the D. George Honeyman puts Sunderland
Southend were forced into a change just before the midway point in the first half when left-back Ben Coker appeared to catch his studs in the turf as he stretched for the ball and was stretchered off after lengthy treatment.
Sunderland took the lead on 29 minutes after Sinclair put Oxley under pressure as he cleared a short backpass from Taylor Moore.
The clearance fell to Cattermole, he spread the ball wide to the right for Lynden Gooch and his cross was glanced home by Honeyman via the inside of the left-hand post.