Match Report: Chelsea 1 Sunderland 0 (From The Northern Echo)

O'Neill not despondent over defeat at Chelsea

12:15pm Monday 16th January 2012 in Sunderland AFC Match Reports By Paul Fraser, Chief Football Writer

FORGET the celebrations in the Chelsea dug-out that greeted the final whistle - events at Stamford Bridge provided further evidence of how Sunderland are already a different proposition under Martin O'Neill.

There may not have been the hysteria which followed the memorable 3-0 win on the King's Road 14 months ago; nor was there as much as a point to savour on returning to Wearside on Saturday night.

There was, however, another positive performance to suggest the misery of the opening few months of the season are well and truly behind a Black Cats squad described as "in form" by Andre Villas-Boas.

O'Neill has Sunderland heading in the right direction again and the second defeat of his tenure should not inflict too much damage on a squad revitalised under the Northern Irishman.

The 59-year-old cut a subdued figure in the technical area when Chelsea's victory was confirmed, while his much younger counterpart bounced around in delight with the rest of the Blues bench.

"We should draw something from that," said O'Neill. "I think that their (Chelsea's) relief at the final whistle was kind of a telling moment for us."

O'Neill had not looked so forlorn since accepting the Sunderland job at the beginning of December. This was a defeat at a club with hopes of winning the Premier League and Champions League, but Sunderland could quite easily have won here for the second season in a row.

Chelsea recorded more shots; Sunderland had the better of them. And they were undone by a fortuitous winner, which would have been cancelled out had the visitors not been so wasteful in the box.

"I hope the confidence isn't eroded by this result," said O'Neill, whose side now have back-to-back home games in the league against Swansea and Norwich. "There's obviously massive disappointment in the dressing room. It is probably more to do with frustration than anything else.

"But if we think about it, we have actually created these chances and played very well against a side that has certainly, in the last seven years, been contesting big games every single week."

Even before Chelsea had taken the lead, Sunderland could have been ahead. Stephane Sessegnon, a regular threat to the home defence, had created a great chance after darting behind Ashley Cole, but neither James McClean nor Nicklas Bendtner could finish it off.

Chelsea did get the break ten minutes later. After an initial move broke down, Juan Mata was played into space down the right by Ramires. His chip to the back post was acrobatically volleyed against the bar by the unmarked Fernando Torres.

But Torres, whose performance was deserving of his first goal in more than 14 hours of football, did supply the assist, with the rebound hitting Frank Lampard and bouncing over the line.

While Chelsea enjoyed plenty of possession, Sunderland still looked dangerous. There was a Bendtner header that dropped kindly for goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was then beaten by the Danish striker when he rolled an instinctive shot inches wide.

There was a quieter display from McClean. Jose Bosingwa controlled him in the first half, but after the restart the Irish winger's input increased along with the quality of Sunderland's play.

Aside from three penalty appeals - two on Torres and one on Bendtner - which could have been given on any other afternoon, Sunderland should have altered the scoreline in the closing stages.

McClean was first to go close, when he miss-hit Seb Larsson's centre from close range and had to watch the ball roll agonisingly wide.

O'Neill said: "It is genuinely not in his nature to hide. Yes, of course he was really disappointed and beating himself up about it in the dressing room but he'll be fine. He's been really, really fantastic for us."

Craig Gardner, who is a target for West Brom and Wolves, and Bendtner both missed the target from ten yards in separate moves after clever play from Sessegnon and Connor Wickham, as Chelsea survived.

Sunderland's display reminded O'Neill of why he was so keen to get back into management.

"Obviously the chances that we missed have killed us," said O'Neill, who has still claimed 13 points from the first 21 available to him since taking over from Steve Bruce.

"But in a perverse sort of way, this is why I'm enjoying being back. I missed the competitive element of the game and the Premier League in general.

"I watched a lot of football - I know every single player playing in the Peruvian league! It's a great game and I missed it." Even if he did spend the rest of the weekend with Sunderland's missed chances on his mind.