Fernando! 33 goals last season and, though the game looked to end another 0-0 dreadful to pair with their midweek Champions League result, Mr. El Nino Torres unleashed his deadly boot in the 82nd minute and put the ball where it needed to be in the back of the Sunderland net for a 1-0 opening day win. Sweet, sweet, sweet!
Rafa put out an interesting lineup. Ryan Babel, Lucas Leiva and Javier Mascherano would have been in the XI except for being in Beijing for the Olympic quarterfinals so we had Damien Plessis paired with Captain Stevie in central midfield and Yossi Benayoun at left wing and the boss gave starts to new signing Andrea Dossena at right back and the longest tenured Red, Sami Hyypia, alongside Jamie Carragher.
Hyypia made the opening 10 minutes more exciting for Pepe Reina than they might have been but the backline tightened up after that and our goal was rarely challenged. On the attacking end we had quite a few chances that finished prematurely from good saves by Black Cats keeper Craig Gordon and centerback Nyron Nosworthy or shots just wide.
In the end we took all three points home, in stark contrast to last season’s opening day 0-0 draw. Next weekend we host Middlesboro. Gareth Southgate’s men took a surprising 2-1 win over visiting big spenders Tottenham so getting another victory will not be a walk in the park, though we may have at least one of our Olympians back in the squad and perhaps even see Gareth Barry’s debut (if Hicks and Gillette finally cough up the cash).
BillSaysThis 