Sunderland vs Manchester City Match Preview
Sunderland won their first league match since November on Tuesday as the destroyed Bolton 4-0 at the Stadium of Light.
Fraizer Campbell scored the opener within the first minute, claiming the twin distinctions of scoring the quickest goal of the season and simultaneously his first in the league for the Black Cats.
Following the break Darren Bent took over the scoring duties and achieved his first hat trick for the club. Prior to the Bolton match Sunderland had gone 14 league matches without a win. Still, they are safely in the lower middle of the table at position 13, four points behind 12th place Blackburn Rovers.
The Black Cats go into the weekend with injuries to midfielders Andy Reid and Jordan Henderson.
Manchester City last met Sunderland on December 19th, when previous manager Mark Hughes was still at the helm.
City won that yuletide encounter thanks largely to Santa. Cruz, that is, first name Roque, who scored two in City 4-3 victory.
City gave Hughes the heave-ho immediately following the game and installed former Italian international Roberto Mancini as the new City boss.
Mancini’s honeymoon period with City lasted through four consecutive wins but since then the reality of Premier League pressure has told on the club and they’ve settled into a win/loss/draw record that has been just good enough to keep them hovering within contention for the fourth place finish coveted by several teams.
City are currently in fifth, just goal difference behind fourth place Tottenham. They go into the weekend with injuries to midfielders Martin Petrov and Michael Johnson.
