Burton Albion 0-3 Sunderland AFC
Sunderland ended a very positive week of results and takeover news with a 3-0 win at Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.
Grant Leadbitter and Lynden Gooch scored in the sixth and the 32nd minute before in-form striker Charlie Wyke sealed the win in the 76th minute.
Lee Johnson adjusted the formation from recent games, opting for 3-4-3 formation to combat the lack of centre back options, with Conor McLaughlin, Dion Sanderson and Luke O’Nien in the back three.
The home side have had a revival since Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink’s arrival, winning three of their last four games.
Sunderland started off strongly, and took the lead in the sixth minute when McGeady rolled the ball from a free kick to Grant Leadbitter, whose low shot found the corner.
The Black Cats continued to threaten, and in the 32nd minute, goalkeeper Ben Garratt punched the ball out, only finding Gooch, who struck a powerful left footed shot off the underside of the bar to double their lead.
The game was a feisty affair throughout with 11 cards given out in total from referee Craig Hicks.
The most significant of these came in the 55th minute, after Josh Earl was shown a second yellow for pushing Aiden O’Brien over the hoardings.
Sunderland took advantage of the man advantage and in the 76th minute, Jordan Jones played in Charlie Wyke, who calmly slotted it past the keeper.
Chris Maguire almost got on the scoresheet in injury time, but his left footed strike was just tipped past the post by Garratt.
The win took Sunderland back into the play-off places, and will be hoping to continue their form against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.
