Sunderland 2 (Burke 43, Ba 90) Wolves 0
Goals in either half from Marshall Burke and Abdoulah Ba gave Sunderland the three points in the Premier League Cup at the expense of Wolves under-21s on Monday night.
Wolves had a glorious opening inside the first 10 minutes when Owen Farmer’s cross to the back post made its way to Leo Lopes whose instinctive effort was well-saved by Daniel Cameron.
At the other end, Joe Anderson was tempted by a long-range effort after moving into space some 25 yards out, but his attempt was always rising above Lewys Benjamin’s goal.
Harrison Jones was the next man to be afforded space in the Old Gold’s defensive third, and he timed his pass perfectly to slide in Rhys Walsh, but Benjamin was quickly out to thwart the danger with an important save.
The Old Gold were denied the opener in sensational fashion when Sunderland goalkeeper Cameron somehow kept out Fil Mabete’s header on the line, after the defender had met Ethan Sutherland’s corner a few yards out from goal.
And the save proved to be key, as the Black Cats broke the deadlock on 43 minutes. A short corner kick was teed up for Burke to strike on the edge of the area, and Benjamin was given no chance as the effort nestled cleanly into the roof of the net for the opening goal.
Half-time | Sunderland 1-0 Wolves
Wolves looked to respond early into the second period and after Benjamin had made another smart save, Dani Angel was played in at the other end, but his low effort was comfortably into the gloves of Cameron.
Lopes then took aim with a strike from distance that had the power, but lacked the direction as the ball whistled past the right-hand post.
James Collins’ side were high pressing their opponents and it so nearly paid off when Matty Whittingham won the ball back, before cutting onto his right boot and flashing an effort just high and wide.
Tom Edozie and Fletcher Holman were introduced for the final 20 minutes and both came close for the visitors. First, Edozie was given a second stab at a ball into the box before being denied by a last-ditch block and then Holman found himself at the back post from the resulting corner, but couldn’t quite scramble home.
Sunderland were forced to play the final six minutes plus stoppages with 10 men as Trey Ogunsuyi was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away, giving Wolves the opportunity to push for the leveller with a man advantage.
However, that wasn’t to be the case as Sunderland made the points safe by scoring a second in the final minute. Following a drop ball, a long punt over the top caused problems for Wolves and Ba nipped in ahead of Testimony Igbinoghene before keeping his cool to finish past Benjamin.
The result means that Sunderland now leapfrog Wolves into second place in Group D, having accumulated three more points than the Old Gold after three games each.
Full-time | Sunderland 2-0 Wolves
COMING UP
Wolves under-21s host West Ham United in a Premier League 2 encounter at Aggborough on Friday evening.
NEXT THREE
- 25/10 West Ham (H)
- 29/10 Dinamo Zagreb (H) PL International Cup
- 02/11 Liverpool (A)
TEAMS
Sunderland | Cameron, Crompton (Lavery 46), Bennette, Burke (Mitchell 78), Anderson, Johnson, Ba, Middlemas, Ogunsuyi, Jones, Walsh (Tutierov 70).
Subs not used | Richardson, Kindon.
Wolves | Benjamin, Ojinnaka, Sutherland, Mabete (Voice 81), Pond, Ashworth, Farmer (Holman 70), Whittingham, Angel (Igbinoghene 81), Barnett (Bradbury 81), Lopes (Edozie 70).
