Denis Smith’s Sunderland were always up against it after being promoted in May 1990. After the celebrations of beating the mags and the announcement we were promoted over Swindon Town had faded, the realisation of the task in hand kicked in.
Smith had nothing in the pot to strengthen, so Eric Gates and John MacPhail left for Carlisle and Hartlepool United, respectively, and Peter Davenport and Kevin Ball arrived to replace them.
Just two defeats in the first six games raised hopes, especially a last-minute
over Fergie’s United. But it was one of those years that felt like we were in with a chance of at least a point in every game, but in a season where we lost more leads than Inspector Clouseau, it constantly felt like we were throwing away points.
The festive season in particular was disastrous. During December, the Lads lost five and drew one, and even that point gained at Spurs was frustrating after the 3-3 epic. However, 1991 began positively with a 1-0 home win over Southampton courtesy of a Kevin Ball penalty, and after exiting the FA Cup at Highbury, we traveled to Old Trafford for a pretty daunting task of taking on an in-form Manchester United.
Fergie’s United had lost only once in the previous seventeen games and were sitting fifth in the Division One table, we were one point above the drop. One positive for Sunderland ahead of the game was the return of star striker Marco Gabbiadini, who had missed most of the festive period through injury, but was ready to return to try and give Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister the run around as he had at the start of the season.
John Kay was suspended for the trip, and although the manager had options, he confirmed ahead of the game that youngster Paul Williams would make his Division One debut and replace Kay:
Williams has worked hard during training this week and although he may find one or two things a bit foreign at first, I am sure he will fit in. I have no doubt at all that he will do a good job and he will handle the atmosphere at Old Trafford. The lads a good player and his temperament will be no problem.
I’ve also no doubt that he has the pace to handle anything that Manchester United throw at him down our right hand side.
I’m not sure what our scouting network was like at the time, but it hints that we hadn’t accounted for the latest United wonderkid – Lee Sharpe. It took just 40 seconds to provide a warning as Sharpe shrugged off a challenge from Williams and put the ball into the net, but it was ruled out for a foul.
Seven minutes later and it was pretty much game over when United did take the lead – and what a goal it was. Mark Hughes was famous for the spectacular goal, but I imagine this one might rank quite highly as he connected perfectly with a bicycle kick that went in off the underside of the bar.
If it wasn’t over at this point, then seven minutes over it definitely was when they scored a second. Sharpe once again caused all sorts of problems and laid it on a plate for Brian McClair to slot home. United continued a relentless onslaught on the Sunderland goal, and the only surprise was that the third didn’t come until five minutes before the break.
This time, it was Clayton Blackmore who was the provider for Wales teammate Hughes, who controlled the ball before rounding Tony Norman and scoring from a tight angle.
Smith revealed later that he was tempted to bring Williams off after the second goal but waited until half-time:
The lad will be back. He had a bad time and is feeling very low, but he is too good a player to be down for long. That won’t ever happen to him again.
Clearances off the line by Bennett and Ball in the second half, combined with United taking their foot off the pedal, stopped the scoreline getting out of hand in the second half, but it was one of the rare occasions that season where we really looked out of place in the top flight.
Barclays League Division One
Old Trafford
Manchester United 3-0 Sunderland
[Hughes 7’, 40’, McClair 15’]
Sunderland: Norman, Williams (Hardyman), Bennett, Ball, Ord, Owers, Bracewell, Armstrong, Pascoe, Rush (Hawke), Gabbiadini
Manchester United: Sealey, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Blackmore, Webb (Phelan), Ince (Robins), Robson, Sharpe, McClair, Hughes
Attendance: 45,934
