Martin O'Neill. Photo / AP
Martin O'Neill got an idea of the problems he has to deal with at Sunderland when he watched his new team lose 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League today.
With Kieran Richardson having put Sunderland ahead shortly after halftime, the former Celtic and Aston Villa coach watched from the stands as his club missed a chance for 2-0 when goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey saved a penalty from Sebastian Larsson.
Steven Fletcher equalized immediately from the resulting counterattack and scored again with nine minutes left to lift his team above Sunderland in the standings.
O'Neill will officially succeed the fired Steve Bruce as manager on Monday, with the side he supported as a boy just one point and one place above the bottom three.
Richardson gave Sunderland a 52nd-minute lead at the end of a stunning length-of-the-field counterattack. Nicklas Bendtner and Stephane Sessegnon combined to release Richardson in the area and the forward smashed an angled shot high into the net.
Larsson won a penalty kick when he tumbled to the ground theatrically under a challenge from Jody Craddock, although replays showed that any slight contact appeared to occur just outside the area.
Hennessey saved the kick low to his left and rolled the ball out for the 73rd-minute counter that ended with Fletcher heading in a cross by Matt Jarvis. Eight minutes later, Fletcher scored the winner with a left-foot shot from about 12 metres.
Wolves moved up two places to 15th, two points ahead of Sunderland. Only Blackburn, Bolton and Wigan in the relegation zone are below the Black Cats.
With all the high-flying clubs having played Sunday partly to give Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal an extra day rest before their midweek Champions League assignments Stoke won 1-0 at Everton in today's other game.
Defender Robert Huth's first goal of the campaign early in the game meant that Stoke recorded a victory after a Europa League match for only the second time this season.
Apostolos Vellios made just his second start up front for Everton in place of Louis Saha, and his club did not pose enough of a threat in the opposition penalty area despite dominating the second half.
Stoke rose five places to eighth, two points ahead of Everton.
Leader City stayed five points ahead of United with a 5-1 win over Norwich, while United won 1-0 at Aston Villa. Chelsea won 3-0 at Newcastle, Arsenal won 4-0 at Wigan and third-place Tottenham beat Bolton 3-0.
- AP
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