adminSunderland 2-0 West Brom
Miracles tend to be painfully elusive but Sunderland supporters now know they really can happen. Only three weeks ago Gus Poyet conceded that divine intervention seemed called for if his side were to be saved from relegation but a run of four successive wins has transformed the Wearside landscape, securing one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history.
With West Bromwich possessing a significantly superior goal difference to Norwich, the rubber-stamping of Sunderland’s once apparently impossible survival means the team from Carrow Road are destined to join Fulham and Cardiff City in the Championship next season.
The goals were scored by the excellent Jack Colback and Fabio Borini but not for the first time Lee Cattermole held Poyet’s side together and the enforcer departed to a standing ovation in the 87th minute.
Soon afterwards a crowd in excess of 45,000 unleashed a roar that must have been heard 12 miles up the road in Newcastle. An amalgam of thanks, joy and, above all, sheer relief, it sealed a triumph Poyet describes as “the biggest achievement of my life”.
Smiling broadly, he said he was looking forward to enjoying a celebratory drink. “It’s one of the happiest days of my life,” he said. “I’m absolutely delighted, I’m proud and so pleased for the fans.
“It’s been difficult, very difficult, but we’ve stayed up in a certain style, we’re going to be remembered for this for a very long time. We’ve shown you can stay up despite being seven points adrift with a month left – but it’ll be a miracle if something like this happens again” —The Guardian
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