NEWCASTLE, England (AP) - In-form Sunderland powered to a 3-0 win at fierce rival Newcastle for the second straight season to move further clear of Premier League’s relegation zone and spark anger among disillusioned home fans on Saturday.
Sunderland was 2-0 ahead after just 23 minutes when Fabio Borini’s penalty in the 19th - following Vurnon Anita’s foul on Phil Bardsley - was added to by winger Adam Johnson’s sixth goal in his last four league games.
Jack Colback ensured there would be no comeback by Newcastle when he buried a finish in the 80th minute after good work by Borini, clinching a third straight derby win for Sunderland.
Two Newcastle fans ran onto the pitch at separate times after Colback’s goal and large sections turned their ire on owner Mike Ashley, as the atmosphere turned unpleasant inside St. James’ Park late on.
It ended a miserable week for the hosts, who sold their best player - France midfielder Yohan Cabaye - to Paris Saint-Germain and failed to replace him.
“Listen, when you lose a player of Cabaye’s class, you want a replacement,” Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said. “But he didn’t arrive and I have to accept what was in my kitty today and going forward . It would have been nice to have had a player to give us a boost for the second half of the season, but he didn’t arrive.”
As for Sunderland, which this month reached the League Cup final, things just get better and better under Gus Poyet, who has raised morale and got his team playing some attractive football since replacing Paolo Di Canio in October. The team is now 14th, two points above the bottom three.
“We thoroughly deserved it,” Colback said. “The last two times we’ve beaten them, showing them we wanted it a bit more and I think that was the case again.”
Johnson, in particular, has been in inspired form under Poyet and now has seven goals in 2014. He will likely be on England coach Roy Hodgson’s radar ahead of the World Cup.
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