adminCRISTHIAN STUANI scored twice on his Premier League debut as Middlesbrough beat Sunderland in the first Wear-Tees league derby in seven and a half years.
Alvaro Negredo assisted both goals, with Stuani’s opener a brilliant 25-yard effort into the top corner.
The Spaniard then unselfishly squared to Stuani for their second.
The Black Cats improved in the second half and Patrick van Aanholt gave them hope when he turned home after Brad Guzan parried Duncan Watmore’s shot.
David Moyes’ side had been booed off after a first half which saw them fail to test Boro debutant Guzan, replacing the injured Victor Valdes.
But after a second-half revival, they almost had a draw when Guzan fumbled another shot, but Donald Love turned the rebound wide.
Middlesbrough’s summer signing of Negredo on loan, only a year after Valencia paid £21.25m for the striker from Manchester City, caused some surprise.
A haul of five goals in La Liga last season meant his £100,000-a-week wages would be a gamble for newly promoted Boro.
But a goal on his debut against Stoke was followed by another key performance. He set up the opener for Stuani, although the goal was very much of the Uruguayan’s own making as he smashed home from distance.
Negredo only assisted three goals in 40 games for Valencia last season, but had his second of the day when he could have gone alone. The 31-year-old Spain striker had space to shoot but instead, with goalkeeper Vito Mannone braced to attempt a save, Negredo rolled it across to Stuani to fire home.
Sunderland boss Moyes decided to start with Paddy McNair, usually a defender, in midfield alongside Jack Rodwell. And when they needed a tactical reshuffle following an injury to centre-back John O’Shea, it was Rodwell, rather than McNair who dropped back to defence.
But when Moyes scrapped that experiment at half-time and replaced McNair with midfielder Jeremain Lens, they made a game of it.
After the break they had more shots (14-3), more possession and more passes – having been behind on all of those counts in the first half.
But with 34-year-old debutant Steven Pienaar the only Sunderland player other than Jermain Defoe to have more than 10 Premier League goals in his career, they rarely looked like scoring – with the exception of Van Aanholt’s goal. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter