A Cats victory at last, now bring on Reading
AFTER a false start at Aston Villa, Chris Coleman is up and running.
The new Sunderland boss earned his first win at the second attempt - and what a crucial victory it was.
The Black Cats simply could not afford to lose at relegation rivals Burton Albion.
A draw would hardly have made any difference, either.
Sunderland needed a win to climb off the foot of the table, to end their three-month wait for a league victory, and to transform the sense of hope Coleman’s arrival has brought to Wearside into something tangible.
Admittedly, they were playing against a Burton side themselves struggling against the drop.
Yet rather than wilt as they did when another relegation contender in Bolton Wanderers visited the Stadium of Light in October, at the Pirelli Stadium the Wearsiders were in control for most of the match.
They return of Lee Cattermole and Paddy McNair beefed up the midfield and the Black Cats dominated possession and restricted Burton to only one shot on target all game.
They looked as defensively sound as they have all season in fact, this was their first clean sheet in the league for more than six months.
That was important because it meant Sunderland stayed in the game, providing the platform which allowed them to score twice in the last 10 minutes to take a deserved three points.
Previous Sunderland managers have come under fire for their substitutions.
However, Coleman’s changes paid dividends as James Vaughan came off the bench to break the deadlock and then teenager Joel Asoro capped his cameo by setting up the second goal for George Honeyman.
The goals came so late in the game it left Burton with no time to recover.
Because Sunderland scored twice in quick succession, the two goals meant there were none of the nerves which come with trying to protect a slender one-goal advantage.
The goals came in front of the sold-out away end where 1,500plus travelling fans - making up almost a third of the total attendance - celebrated wildly.
After 16 winless games in the league, it was long overdue.
Coleman’s appointment was always going to engender a positive, optimistic, atmosphere at the Stadium of Light for his first home game in charge against Reading next weekend.
However, this win will crank it up another notch - and if he can put an end to Sunderland’s interminable 11-month wait for a home win it could be a defining moment in the Black Cats’ season.
The Wearsiders have been on the slide for too long.
It is time to start climbing and building momentum.