In terms of pure entertainment, this has to go down as one of the greatest games that has taken place in the Stadium of Light since its construction in the late nineties. This match had everything: three penalties, amazing goals, controversy and some questionable refereeing decisions on top of it all.
Credit to both sides. Both Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur brought a lot to the game and when you actually look at both the line-ups from this game, this was a classic “Barclays” clash.
In the Sunderland
side, we lined up with former Spurs player Darren Bent up top along with an up-and-coming Jordan Henderson and Craig Gordon in goal. Furthermore, Spurs had some heavy hitters in their side including Luka Modric, Kyle Walker, David Bentley and both Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.
From minute one, this game was bonkers and this would certainly not be what Spurs’ manager would have wanted given his team were chasing a Champions League spot. In what was one of Sunderland’s first attacks of the game, another former Spur Fraizer Campbell swooped with a header to meet Kieran Richardson’s corner and although Heurelho Gomes kept out the point-blank header it fell perfectly for Bent, who had left London for Wearside the previous summer.
This goal sparked pandemonium with both sets of fans who wanted to express viscerally their feelings about the goal towards Bent. It must be said that Bent’s taunting in front of the away end was probably not the brightest move to make where pints of beer were used as missiles towards the Sunderland striker.
If the away fans were unhappy by this stage, things only got worse for them when Bent made it two from the penalty spot. Despite early protestations for a foul on Jordan Henderson, minutes later a penalty was given after a cross brushed Kyle Walker’s arm midway through the half with the referee pointing to the spot for the first time, and Bent confidently beat Gomes low to his right.
Bent’s first penalty looked incredibly confident but perhaps this could have been the issue when he was awarded another after Campbell wriggled clear of the attentions of Sebastien Bassong and Assou-Ekotto and burst into the box, before going over an appalling forward’s challenge from Luka Modric, who simply hung out a leg.
Bent opted to put the ball to the left of Gomes this time, but the Brazilian leapt across goal magnificently to tip the ball away. The Spurs fans celebrated it like it was a goal whilst Bent looked bemused and somewhat humbled by the save.
Sunderland were amazing in the first half where they were winning every duel and battle across the pitch and naturally enough, Harry Redknapp changed it up at half-time where Jermain Defoe and Niko Kranjcar were brought into the game.
Tottenham were certainly better in the second half and only minutes into it, Defoe did go close with an opportunity but his tame effort was ultimately saved by Gordon.
The away side nearly shot themselves in the foot again as Bent, who missed a penalty on his return to White Hart Lane the previous November when Spurs beat Sunderland 2-0, struck his third spot-kick of the afternoon to the right of Gomes, but the Tottenham keeper tipped the ball on to the inside of the post and was relieved to grab the rebound.
Ferdinand looked to have sealed it when he calmly sidefooted a loose ball into the bottom corner after a cross from the influential Steed Malbranque caused yet more problems. A foul on Gomes by Campbell was deemed to have inhibited the goalkeeper from making a challenge for the ball but despite the goal being disallowed, Ferdinand didn’t seem to hear and inexplicably entertained the crowd with a Michael Jackson-inspired moonwalk.
Moments later, this crazy game took another twist when Peter Crouch scored with his first touch of the game to bring Spurs back into the contest when he rose to meet Kranjcar’s looping cross from the left. Replays suggest that Michael Turner was fouled in the build-up but nothing was given and despite Sunderland bossing this game, they were still only one goal ahead going into the final stages of the game.
Steve Bruce made subs of his own and it was one of them who would have the final key moment in this astonishing game when Bolo Zenden acrobatically volleyed into the top corner following Henderson’s looping cross.
The crowd erupted as if a huge sigh of relief came as a wave across the stadium. Many times in the past, the third goal would never arrive and the home side would be pegged back but this day was Sunderland’s day and what a fitting goal it was to finish off this game.
