Sunderland supporters vote with their feet after Aston Villa run riot
Sunderland 0 - 4 Aston VillaChristian Benteke 16
Gabriel Agbonlahor 18
Gabriel Agbonlahor 37
Christian Benteke 44
Angry Sunderland fans try to get to the dug-out where manager Gus Poyet is, during Aston Villa's 4-0 win.
It did not get too personal and the boos were not as loud as they might have been but protests regularly prove as dramatic.
The demonstration of discontent staged by Sunderland fans took the form of a major exodus, with a ground which, had been filled with almost 46,000 spectators, appearing half empty by the interval.
Every empty plastic red seat served as a reproach to Gus Poyet on a day when his stuttering side appeared to simply surrender, conceding four goals to Tim Sherwood’s renascent Aston Villa in the first 45 minutes.
It leaves Ellis Short, Sunderland’s owner, with a very big decision to make. Short and his board had hoped Poyet could limp on in charge until the end of the season but, even though the team remain just above the relegation zone, it is hard to see how that can be allowed to happen now.
A couple of minutes after the final whistle Poyet paused near the mouth of the tunnel, half turned and took a lingering look around the near deserted stadium. The body language was that of a man who senses his time is up.
Sherwood’s 4-4-2 formation offered Villa real width and the promise of plenty of crosses for Christian Benteke and Christian Agbonlahor. Sure enough a pleasingly fluent passing move concluded with Leandro Bacuna advancing from right back and crossing low in Benteke’s direction.
Within seconds a wrong-footed Costel Pantilimon was beaten courtesy of the centre forward’s unerring first time, sidefooted finish from 10 yards. With his view obstructed by a defender Sunderland’s goalkeeper saw it late but Benteke could be proud of concluding a stellar move with a fine finish.
Almost immediately, Villa scored again. By way of variation it was a very different type of goal featuring John O’Shea’s misjudgment of Ciaran Clark’s long, high punt forwards.
The ball fell kindly to Agbonlahor, who when left one-on-one with Pantilimon, made no mistake in directing an angled shot into the back of the net.
Boos became audible but it could have been far worse had Scott Sinclair not lent back and skied a close range shot over the bar when it seemed simpler to score. Once again the opening was created by Bacuna’s cross and by now it was abundantly evident that Sherwood had instructed his right back to join Charles N’Zogbia in attacking Sunderland’s vulnerable left flank at every opportunity.
If Bacuna was enjoying an excellent game so, too, was Agbonlahor. He scored his second after collecting N’Zogbia’s delivery, cutting inside one tentative potential marker and then brushing past a hesitant Wes Brown aside before shooting low, and powerfully, beyond Pantilimon.
Almost before the Romanian could retrieve the ball from the back of his net a significant number of Sunderland fans were heading for the exits. Down in the technical area, Poyet had retreated to his dug-out where he sat slumped back in his seat arms folded and eyes fixed firmly on the sky.
A few feet away from him a season ticket and a scarf were hurled to the ground before stewards ushered their former owner away from the Uruguayan’s immediate orbit.
Soon the police were involved joining stewards to form a tight cordon behind the home bench and discouraging the growing band of locals who seemed extremely keen to provide Poyet with some advice.
How Sunderland’s manager must have wished a magic carpet could land at his feet and whisk him away to almost anywhere else in the world. Such feelings can only have intensified when Benteke’s second goal offered Sherwood a four-goal half-time cushion.
No prizes for guessing that it came in the aftermath of a Bacuna cross, leaving the Belgian to direct a header past Pantilimon from six yards.
The second period began in similar vein with Pantilimon doing well to push N’Zogbia’s capriciously curling shot away after the winger had been cleverly set up by Benteke.
By now it was apparent that Sunderland were down to 10 men. With no one having been sent off Sebastian Larsson’s non-appearance was more than slightly puzzling and at one stage a perplexed looking Poyet wandered back down the tunnel apparently looking for the Swede.
Eventually Larsson re-emerged, trotting on five minutes into the new half after seemingly requiring stitches in an ankle wound.
Television monitors within the press box suddenly cut to an image of a familiar figure sitting in the stand. Roy Keane was here to watch two of his old teams and his presence was probably purely coincidental but it inevitably begged the question as to whether his badly fractured relationship with Ellis Short might, just might, be repairable after all. Is the idea of Keane returning to the Stadium of Light as Sunderland’s caretaker manager until the summer really beyond the bounds of possibility?
If that sounds an absurd notion even the now 43-year-old Keane would surely have enhanced an embarrassingly lightweight home midfield, consistently by-passed as Fabian Delph ensured Villa remained in firm second half control.
At least Poyet’s side did manage to hit the post, Steven Fletcher’s fine shot beating Brad Guzan but not the woodwork on an afternoon when Sherwood choreographed a third straight win and simply everything went wrong for Sunderland.
Guardian
