Sunderland 3-0 Chester City

After all the apologies of last week, it was to be expected that the players should easily overcome a Chester side who currently lie at the very bottom of the football league. They didn’t disappoint. Goals from Kyle and Caldwell, accompanied by an own goal from Sean Hessey allowed the lads to breeze into the second round of the Carling Cup.

McCarthy named a remarkably similar side, especially for a cup game, with the only changes being those of Sean Thornton and Mark Lynch replacing Stephen Wright and Liam Lawrence respectively. Whether it was these changes, or whether Chester are a poorer side, the team performed immeasurably better than Saturday. From kick-off, Sunderland were immediately on top and attacking the Chester box. Whitehead and Thornton combined well and their crosses created two loud penalty appeals for handball within the first ten minutes. After a small break in pressure, Sunderland were gifted two chances within a minute. Robinson fired wide and Arca could not convert his opportunity after an excellent run. Against the run of the play, Chester then created the best chance of the game. With summer signing Mark Lynch left in no mans land, Michael Branch was left with only Myhre to beat but Poom’s replacement spread himself well and made an excellent save.

After that, the game seemed to tail of slightly, although, with half an hour gone, Breen ventured forward and saw his good attempt cleared off the line. The next real chance came with five minutes left of the first half when , after a good Sean Thornton cross flicked on by Stewart, Chester defender, Hessey diverted the ball past his own ’keeper to give Sunderland a deserved lead.

The second half was played out in much the same way as the first 45 minutes as Sunderland continued to heap pressure on a poor Chester defence. Stewart and Kyle were both working hard and both had missed out with early headers. Kyle rectified his mistake just 5 minutes later when, after another good Sean Thornton corner, he powered in a header to effectively put the game beyond doubt.

With an hour gone, Myhre came off to be replaced by Poom, making his first appearance since he injured his back against Coventry on the opening day of the season. No sooner had he put his gloves on, Sunderland were on the attack again. A deflected Sean Thornton free-kick meant that the Chester goal-keeper, Wayne Brown, could only parry the ball to the feet of Caldwell who was able to the stroke the ball home with unbelievable ease.

If Kyle’s goal had sealed the win, this put this goal put the game beyond any doubt and the last 20 minutes saw no real action. Stewart gave way to Stephen Ellliott and Lawrence replaced Arca, but with no visible effect on the game.

A game against the bottom, bottom side, watched by a the lowest crowd ever at the Stadium of Light is a bit of a non-event really but many, including McCarthy, will surely see this as a crucial game in getting over Saturday’s defeat and re-building the players’ confidence for an important game against league leaders, Wigan on Saturday.

Final Score- 3-0
Man of the Match: Carl Robinson

Matthew Woolston