Sunderland’s struggle to avoid relegation will go down to the wire after lax defending contributed to a 3-1 loss at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park on Monday.
The Black Cats needed all three points from the game for safety, but their Premier League fate will now be determined by Chelsea’s visit on Sunday.
Sunderland were left just two points clear of the drop zone, with a win against Chelsea necessary or their future will be decided by results elsewhere.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ricky Sbragia’s strugglers remain a point better off than Hull, who host Manchester United, and two ahead of local rivals Newcastle.
Both sides hit the post in a goalless and largely lifeless first half.
Sunderland were lucky to escape when the woodwork diverted Peter Crouch’s close range header in the fourth minute, while the visitors were groaning when Kenwyne Jones’ header hit Asmir Begovic’s right-hand post approaching the break.
Then after almost 12-and-a-half hours without either side scoring a goal, first Sunderland and then Portsmouth put an end to that miserable statistic.
Jones had Sunderland fans dreaming of another season in the Premier League when he half-volleyed Calum Davenport’s cross from the right past Asmir Begovic in the 58th minute.
But Portsmouth were back on level terms seconds later when Nigerian John Utaka held off a Black Cats defender to rifle past Marton Fulop, although it was not without controversy as the referee blew his whistle for a penalty before the ball crossed the line.
Poor defending by Anton Ferdinand, who failed to secure Begovic’s long punt down field, left Utaka in a one-on-one with Fulop with Phil Bardsley’s attempt to prevent the inevitable resulting in an own goal.
With 20 minutes on the clock Begovic denied Grant Leadbitter’s low 30 yard drive and the Canadian keeper did well shortly after to keep out Jones’ determined volley.
Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia introduced Djibril Cisse for Teemu Tainio in a last ditch bid to find the all important equalizer, the Frenchman quickly followed on the pitch by Daryl Murphy for Leadbitter.
But Portsmouth killed off the game and possibly Sunderland’s tenure in the Premier League when on-loan Armand Traore drilled a shot into Fulop’s far corner.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS