Sunderland beat Bolton Wanderers 3-1 on Saturday to boost their survival campaign with goals from Kieran Richardson, Kenwyne Jones and Daryl Murphy.
Richardson, who had not played since just after the start of the season, gave Sunderland the lead on 13 minutes with his first goal for the Black Cats.
Richardson was also involved in Sunderland's second goal on 32 minutes when his corner found Trinidad and Tobago international Jones, who scored his fifth goal of the season.
Fellow relegation candidates Bolton pulled one back when El-Hadji Diouf scored from a 41st-minute freekick which found the net just inside the far post.
With so much at stake, both sides decided not to take chances early on and the Trotters fielded Nicolas Anelka as a lone striker.
Richardson's goal was impressive as he controlled the ball before shooting left-footed past Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to claim his first goal for the club, although he was booked after celebrating his score.
The Wearsiders went two goals ahead just after Jaaskelainen had made a great save to prevent a looping ball dropping under the crossbar.
Jones got ahead of Joey O'Brien to meet Richardson's inswinging corner and power a header into the back of the net for his first goal in nine games.
Bolton gave themselves a chance to get back into the match when Diouf's freekick into the box dropped inside the far post.
No more goals were added to the score until the 90th minute, when Murphy found the net to seal the match.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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