Black Cats downed by Blackburn

Sunderland went down 2-1 to Blackburn as David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz set the away side on their way to victory.

A late goal from Grant Leadbitter was not enough to spark a comeback at The Stadium of Light, after two goals in 80 seconds handed Blackburn a 2-1 win over Sunderland. A closely contested first half showed character recognised by that of managerial duo Roy Keane and Mark Hughes, but the away side made the breakthrough midway through the second half. David Bentley opened the scoring thanks to excellent work from Roque Santa Cruz, who thumped home for 2-0 after Brett Emerton capitalised on a Danny Higginbotham error. Leadbitter curled home a neat shot in the final minute, but Rovers saw out the closing moments to claim the points. Former Manchester United team-mates Keane and Hughes never took a backward step during their playing days, and it was no surprise that the teams they sent out scrapped and fought their way through a tight first 45 minutes. The quality of Tugay, David Dunn and Bentley in Blackburn's midfield gave them a foundation upon which to build, and they perhaps enjoyed the greater share of the possession during the opening period. However, what Sunderland lack in craft and guile, they make up for in grit and determination, and the half's better chances came their way. Youngster Leadbitter and last weekend's goal hero Liam Miller were their driving force with the former making a nuisance of himself from the right wing despite having to leave the pitch temporarily after taking an accidental kick in the head from Dunn. Leadbitter saw four first-half shots blocked and another saved by Brad Friedel, who also had to keep out another long-range effort from Miller. For their part, Rovers failed to test Craig Gordon unduly at the other end, the Scot saving from Christopher Samba's low 23rd-minute drive seconds after seeing Higginbotham deflect Santa Cruz's header over the bar. But he was left hopelessly exposed on 38 minutes when Nyron Nosworthy failed to clear Bentley's blocked effort and Matt Derbyshire span to fire just wide of the far post. Michael Chopra, who scored in each of his first two games for the Black Cats, was left to bemoan a controversial decision four minutes before the break when he went down under Friedel's challenge as he ran on to Miller's through-ball. Peter Walton took his time as the American held his breath, but then infuriated the former Newcastle striker and the home fans when he awarded only a corner. Rovers resumed in enterprising fashion and Dunn and Aaron Mokoena both failed to make the most of early half-chances. But they felled their hosts with a devastating blow inside two action-packed minutes. Santa Cruz was allowed to carve his way into the penalty area and 53 minutes to fire in a shot which was blocked by Higginbotham. However, the ball dropped invitingly to Bentley, who thumped it past the stranded Gordon. Worse was to come for the home side after 55 minutes when Higginbotham left his back-pass woefully short and Emerton ran through to force a good save from Gordon before turning the ball back across goal for Santa Cruz to help himself. Sunderland's plight might have been irredeemable three minutes later when the impressive Santa Cruz broke to feed Bentley, who stepped inside before seeing his stabbed shot blocked by Gordon. It was not until the final minute of the game that Sunderland gave themselves any hope when Leadbitter's superb right-footed strike sparked a frenzied, but ultimately fruitless, late assault.

Sunderland	Team Statistics	Blackburn Rovers
1	Goals	2
0	1st Half Goals	0
8	Shots on Target	6
4	Shots off Target	6
6	Blocked Shots	4
10	Corners	2
11	Fouls	5
3	Offsides	0
1	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
78.7	Passing Success	81
39	Tackles	35
79.5	Tackles Success	74.3
48.1	Possession	51.9
58	Territorial Advantage	42