Sunderland almost came to creating a shocking the League Cup final after managing to hold the lead over title favourites Manchester City for much of the match. In the end, they suffered a 3-1 defeat and saw the opposition left the title – the first available to English clubs in the season.
After the match, Sunderland manager Gus Poyet said that he could not have been much more pleased with the performance put in by his players, but they were ultimately beaten by a very strong team. Sunderland took the lead after just 10 minutes through Fabio Borini.
After losing 4-1 at the hands of Arsenal only last weekend, there was a danger of Sunderland losing quite badly at the new Wembley. However, the early goal appeared to give them a lot of confidence and they managed to stay in front for a long period. It only took a wonder goal from Yaya Touré to equalise, but it was the end of the resistance from Sunderland. Samir Nasri’s goal just 90 seconds after Toure’s goal put City in front. Jesus Navas scored a late on to make the game safe for the title challengers. City are the only team in England to be in contention for all four trophies even in the first week of March.
“If we do this every week, I’m sure we’ll stay in the league. The Sunderland fans made me feel better because of the way they talked to us on the walk up at the end. It’s a horrible walk to get the losers’ medal, it’s difficult to take. I’m sorry I wasn’t the happiest when I was going up there. We need [the fans] now. I’ve said from day one, it was nearly an impossible job to stay in the Premier League,” said Poyet after the match.