In a victory that Sunderland manager Gus Poyet described as ‘much needed’, new Sunderland signing Jermain Defoe got off the mark for his new club after his January move from Toronto FC.
Sunderland had been
struggling for goals throughout the season where they had become quite the draw specialists and the club knew that something had to change in the second half of the season if they wanted to avoid struggling again near the bottom of the table.
The signing of the England international was a clear signal of intent from the club and with Jozy Altidore going in the opposite direction, it was almost a no-brainer.
With one win at the Stadium of Light up until this point of the season, a victory at home was much sought after and almost a necessity given the fact that Burnley would have been perceived as one of the more ‘winnable’ encounters at home.
It didn’t help that the Stadium of Light was not the fortress then as it is now and with the crowd somewhat on edge, a goal was required to energise the home faithful.
Thankfully, this arrived within the first twenty minutes through the man who everyone thought was going to kick on and be the main man, Connor Wickham. Wickham had struggled to really take the mantle of Sunderland’s main centre-forward after his exploits at the end of the previous season but his goal gave them the lead here to give him only his third of the season.
Sebastian Larsson’s strength and vision created the opening for Anthony Réveillère to send over a perfect cross for Wickham, who headed back across the scrambling Tom Heaton and into the far corner.
This goal appeared to energise and also calm a fragile fanbase at the same time only days after Poyet had suggested there was a ‘missed connection’ between players and supporters at the stadium.
Any concerns that the fans had dissipated even further as the new signing Defoe got off the mark for his new club with one of the easiest finishes he will ever have.
Jordi Gómez sprung the offside trap with a cute lofted pass to the advanced Van Aanholt, who controlled and picked out Defoe to apply a simple finish.
After this, it was relatively comfortable for the home side against Sean Dyche’s team as Sunderland kept the Clarets at bay with ease. The win saw the team go four points clear of the drop zone and after the game Defoe expressed his delight at getting off the mark in his new surroundings.
“It was important that we got the win today. It was a massive win. We created a lot of chances, the fans were fantastic. The energy from start to finish was fantastic. We managed to get the early goal which helped us, settled us down.
“The Premier League is the best in the world and that’s where you want to be. I feel like I have a lot of goals left in me.”
The signing of Defoe would prove to be a masterstroke over the next couple of years as his goals would end up being vital towards Sunderland’s survival in the division. All of this would come after a spell where Dick Advocaat tried to turn him into a right winger!
