Goals:

0-1: Virtue-Thick (4, controlled the ball in the area before chipping to the back post and over the keeper after some awful defending)

1-1: Wyke (37, moved to meet Maguire’s corner with a strong volley in to the to corner that required plenty of desire to get there)

Bookings: Gnanduillet (45, dissent); Dobson (45, dissent); Flanagan (59, foul); Gooch (81, dissent) Tilt (82, dissent); Feeney (9, foul)

Sending-off: Dobson (74, second bookable offence)

Referee: Ollie Yates (Staffordshire) – quick to issue the red card to Dobson and did make a few strange decisions. 4

Attendance: 30,595

Entertainment: **

Sund Black

Shots on 2 4

Shots off 6 7

Corners 7 4

Fouls 10 13

Offsides 2 2

SUNDERLAND (3-4-2-1):

4 J McLaughlin: Got away with a first half blunder when Husband would have made him pay ;

4 Flanagan: Nowhere near as convincing as he was last season and was cautioned

6 Ozturk: Grew in confidence as the game went on after a sloppy start

6 De Bock: The pick of the three centre-backs and is clearly well liked by Parkinson;

6 O’Nien: Got on the ball enough but didn’t play with the sort tenacity he is known for

5 Power: Looked to get involved without influencing the game in an attacking sense

4 Dobson: Needlessly picked up his first caution and then shouldn’t have made the sort of challenge he did when he had already been booked

5 Hume: Is better when he gets down the line and joins in with attacks

5 Watmore: Got through plenty of running but didn’t cause anywhere near the sort of damage he would have liked to

6 Maguire: Sent over a few lovely centres and as well as scoring from one of those;

7 WYKE: Had the impact in the final third Parkinson was looking for

Subs:

Gooch (for Watmore 72)

Grigg (for Wyke 78)

Leadbitter (for Maguire 84)

(not used) Burge (gk), McLaughlin, McNulty, Lynch.

BLACKPOOL (4-3-2-1): Edwards 6; Turton 5, Tilt 6, Edwards 6, Husband 5; Feeney 6, Spearing, VIRTUE-THICK 7 (Thompson 90); Delfouneso (Nuttall 81, Kaikai (Scannell 46); Gnanduillet. Subs (not used): Bushiri, Guy, Sims, McDonald.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Charlie Wyke - provided the extra bit of power needed.