Sunderland won their first Premier League Wear-Tyne derby in almost a decade as rivals Newcastle drew blank at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.
Newcastle United suffered a tough derby defeat to Sunderland on Sunday, but club legend Alan Shearer was far from impressed. Nick Woltemade’s own goal tied the game and the Black Cats kept their rivals at bay at the Stadium of Light.
The visitors enjoyed more possession than Sunderland but only managed six shots, including two on target, despite spending nearly half the game chasing an equaliser. Shearer’s assessment that his former employer was “miles away” had fans agreeing.
“We didn’t offer anything up front. It was terrible. It was an unbelievable result for a derby game,” Shearer wrote on social media. Newcastle’s front three of Wolte Maid, Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga all drew criticism from supporters, with one calling the game “terrible, awful”.
Another fan replied: “That was embarrassing for Derby.” “No pace, no fight, no hunger. You don’t drift in a game like this. The shirt means more than that. The fans deserve better.”
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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe admitted his side were not in their best form. “It wasn’t our best game. There was an effort but the quality was lacking,” he told Sky Sports. “It was a game where we didn’t have many chances to score free goals, so we weren’t able to get the opening goal we wanted.
He added: “We know how much this means and we were very focused for today. We tried to give our best performance but we weren’t able to do it. We’re disappointed in ourselves and feel like we left something on the pitch and it feels terrible.”
In contrast, Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka was delighted with his team’s hard-fought victory. “The derby, we have to win. It doesn’t matter how,” said the Swiss international. “Our position in the league is great and this team deserves all the more respect because we are working hard.
“In the first half we had more control of the ball, but it’s normal not to be able to do that for 90 minutes. After 1-0 the game changed a bit, but we were very good without the ball and definitely deserved the three points.”
Newcastle resumed play on Wednesday, welcoming Fulham to St James’ Park in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. It remains to be seen whether Dan Byrne, who was forced off with an injury in the game against Wearside, will be able to play against his former club, but Howe said: “Dan Byrne has gone to hospital to have his ribs checked, so we hope he’s okay.”
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