FOR Julio Arca, grabbing a breathtaking solo goal at Valley Parade has capped a tremendous turnaround in fortunes at Sunderland.

It is hardly surprising that his own return to form has been mirrored by the Black Cats' change of direction.

A resounding 4-0 win at Bradford City was Sunderland's third straight success; an achievement that has not been heard of on Wearside for over two-and-a-half years.

And now Mick McCarthy's men are suddenly looking like they could become a force in Division One this season.

They have risen from second bottom to seventh in the space of two weeks. Prior to Sunderland's first victory in 17 matches at Preston, the word relegation for a second successive campaign was on many supporters' lips.

But since that day at Deepdale, the upsurge in team spirit is clear to see and it is to McCarthy's immense credit that players like Arca have found their feet again in English football.

The Argentinian fans' favourite was recalled to the starting line-up at Preston and has played his part in all three of Sunderland's wins since.

But, while he has been influential in his other outings, a confident Arca turned in his best display for some time on top of scoring a quite sensational goal, which was only his fourth scored in the League for the club.

The £3.5m buy from Argentinos Juniors in July 2000 ran with the ball for fully 70 yards, after tackling midfielder Michael Standing just outside the Sunderland penalty area, and he delicately chipped keeper Mark Paston from 20 yards.

Arca was as surprised as any not to see a challenge come his way, but the strike put Sunderland three goals to the good just after the half-hour mark, and it was party time for the 3,000 away supporters who had made the trip.

And that was from a left-back, who has been playing at left-midfield at the Stadium of Light because McCarthy thought he could only play as a winger - a role given to him by ex-boss Peter Reid.

McCarthy, though, is delighted with the way his new-found full-back is performing, and he said: "I knew Julio could do that. I knew he could do all the jinks and turns and score.

"But what I didn't know was how good a defender he is and what a good tackler he is.

"I knew all his qualities and he is now showing what a good player he is."

Arca's performance pleased his manager, but he is not the only player to have a new lease of life at Sunderland.

The arrival of Gary Breen has instilled a touch of experience to a youthful backline, which has now kept three clean sheets in a row.

While the quick-thinking and simple passing of midfielder Paul Thirlwell ensured Sunderland rarely gave the ball away in the centre of the pitch.

McCarthy said: "What Gary has done is that he has made us more solid at the back alongside George (McCartney) at the back. His organisational skills have been instrumental.

"It was also nice for him to score, but I don't care if he doesn't score again all season as long as we keep clean sheets.

"And I didn't know much about Thirlwell. I hadn't seen a lot of the players. But he has been recovering from a hernia injury and he has been terrific.

"Having the captaincy handed to him has helped him as well."

Sunderland had scored four goals in three of their last four matches at Valley Parade and they quickly set about continuing that trend.

With their first shot on target, centre-back Breen headed the visitors into a tenth-minute lead.

The Irish defender rose unmarked at the back post to head Sean Thornton's free-kick into the net.

Five minutes later it was two. Rejuvenated Kevin Kilbane played an incisive through ball to set Marcus Stewart free and the former Ipswich Town striker struck a powerful first time left-foot shot beyond Paston for his third goal in as many games. When Arca grabbed his side's third on 31 minutes the scoreline was exactly what Sunderland deserved.

The fourth was a long time coming. But it did come 14 minutes from time - and it was worth the wait.

Thornton's actual finish, he poked in a loose ball, was not fantastic, but the move beforehand involving Thirlwell, Kevin Kilbane, Colin Healy, Stewart and Kevin Kyle would have looked more at home in the Premiership.

Nicky Law's Bradford side, who didn't have one shot on target, will struggle to preserve their First Division status this year - but Sunderland made light work of the task in hand

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