Substitute Ji Dong-won blew the race for the Premier
League title wide open once again as Manchester City
wasted their chance to establish a three-point lead.
• Sunderland hail O'Neill inspiration
The South Korea international came off the bench to
launch 2012 in style on Wearside with an unlikely winner
in the fourth minute of injury time, when he looked
to be fractionally offside before slotting in.
His fellow substitute Micah Richards had hit the woodwork
at the other end with just a minute of the 90 remaining,
and with the Black Cats staging a valiant rearguard
action.
But a day after Manchester United and Chelsea both
slipped up at home, City were unable to take advantage
despite creating a host of chances as they were shut
out for the second successive game.
Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet kept out substitute
Sergio Aguero's 59th-minute shot and striker Edin Dzeko
saw a series of opportunities go begging on another
frustrating afternoon for the leaders.
City manager Roberto Mancini, perhaps with one eye
on Tuesday's home clash with Liverpool, had started
with Aguero and David Silva on the bench and left Mario
Balotelli out of the 18, but he was forced to bring
on the star substitute pair in a desperate search for
a winner.
Yet, had either Nicklas Bendtner or Stephane Sessegnon
taken the chances which fell their way either side of
the break, Sunderland might have been in front long
before they did actually take the lead.
Black Cats manager Martin O'Neill had gone into the
game without a specialist full-back as injuries tore
his defensive resources apart, and the situation was
to get worse long before the half-time whistle sounded.
Having already had to press midfielders Craig Gardner
and Jack Colback into service at right-back and left-back
respectively, he also had to draft in Mignolet for the
first time since he fractured his nose and a eye-socket
on October 29 as Keiren Westwood pulled out.
O'Neill was forced into a further change with just
26 minutes gone when centre-back Wes Brown pulled up
and was replaced by Matt Kilgallon, making his first
senior appearance for the club since May 2010.
In the circumstances, O'Neill could hardly have been
more pleased with the way his distinctly makeshift defence
battled its way to the break without conceding.
Had lone frontman Bendtner shown a little more composure,
his side might have headed for the dressing room holding
a lead.
Sunderland broke at pace from a third-minute defensive
corner and Sessegnon slid the perfect pass into the
Dane's run to put him in on goal.
Bendtner took the ball wide of goalkeeper Joe Hart,
but crucially not wide enough and the England international
was able to make an important block.
Hart had to make a smart save from James McClean's
effort two minutes later, but as the half went on, it
was a City side featuring six changes from the 0-0 draw
at West Brom which began to dominate.
It was not until the half-hour mark had passed that
they really made their presence felt.
Mignolet, who was wearing a protective face mask, made
a point-blank 32nd-minute block to deny Dzeko, but was
then grateful to see Gardner clear Samir Nasri's effort
off the line seconds later.
Dzeko rattled the crossbar with a powerful drive 10
minutes before the break and then prompted a comfortable
save from Mignolet from distance with two minutes of
the half remaining.
But it was the home side who went close in injury time
when Gardner blasted just high and wide as the Black
Cats surged forward.
Mancini had seen enough and replaced defensive midfielder
Nigel de Jong with Aguero at the break, although it
was McClean who went close to breaking the deadlock
when his 47th-minute cross flew just over the angle
of bar and post.
Yaya Toure scuffed a volley wide seconds later after
Mignolet had kicked Aleksandar Kolarov's cross away,
and Pablo Zabaleta also failed to hit the target after
being played into space by captain Vincent Kompany.
Mancini responded by sending on Aguero for Samir Nasri,
and the visitors squandered another promising opening
within seconds when Dzeko skied a shot high over the
bar from Adam Johnson's cross.
City might have taken the lead in controversial circumstances
with 59 minutes played when referee Kevin Friend allowed
play to continue after Sessegnon went to ground under
Kolarov's challenge.
Silva fed the ball to Dzeko, who dropped it off for
Aguero to fire in a close-range effort which Mignolet
managed to block.
But Sunderland should have been in front with 64 minutes
gone when Sessegnon cut inside from the right and found
himself with just Hart to beat.
The Benin international pushed his shot agonisingly
wide of the far post with the outside of his right foot.
Richards went desperately close to a winner with a
minute of normal time remaining when he headed the ball
into the ground and saw it come back off the crossbar
after Mignolet had parried Silva's shot.
However, the drama was not over and when Sessegnon
stabbed the ball into Ji's path, he calmly rounded Hart
to snatch three precious points.
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