Sunderland 1 Tottenham 0

IT is an image that Sunderland fans have spent the best part of two years attempting to expunge from their memory banks.

When lifelong Newcastle United supporter Michael Chopra scored his first Premier League goal at the Stadium of Light, he celebrated with a mixture of frenzy and elation that seemed to sum up the extent of the enmity that still exists between Tyne and Wear.

advertisement So when the striker completed a controversial £5m move from Cardiff City last month, Sunderland supporters found it difficult to remove the sight of a celebrating Chopra from the forefront of their minds. Difficult, but not as tough as it will be to forget about an almost identical image this morning.

Just 18 minutes after coming off the substitutes' bench to replace Anthony Stokes, Chopra scored the stoppage-time goal that ensured that his past would be rendered as irrelevant as memories of Sunderland's last unsuccessful season in the top-flight.

Wheeling away in delight in front of a near-capacity Stadium of Light crowd, the Gosforth-born striker was able to undergo a process of catharsis that has rapidly washed across Wearside. For Sunderland, as for Chopra, Saturday marked a new beginning.

"When I walked into work on (Saturday) morning, I thought to myself, great, we're back in the Premier League," said Roy Keane, who has now picked up as many Premier League home wins as his predecessor, Mick McCarthy, managed in the whole of the 2005-06 season.

Does life for a Sunderland fan get any better than this? Not only did the Black Cats make a winning return to the top-flight - but the man who grabbed their dramatic late winner was none other than Michael Chopra, the player Newcastle supporters said was not good enough for the Premier League.

Chopra's stoppage-time strike capped a fine first day for the Wearsiders, who have now won as many home games as they did in the whole of their last season in the top flight.

Chopra will hog the headlines but, for many, the real man of the match was centre half Paul McShane.

The man with the Beatles haircut was the stand out in Sunderland's Fab Four - a defence that successfully shackled a Spurs side boasting more than £40 million of attacking talent.

Nyron Nosworthy was equally impressive alongside him, and summer signing Dickson Etuhu won tackle after tackle at the heart of midfield.

There are areas to work on - Anthony Stokes and Daryl Murphy created little in the opening hour - but Sunderland could hardly have asked for more on their eagerly-awaited return to the big time. The Roy Keane bandwagon rolls on.

"This is the place to be. I was excited - and it takes a lot to get me excited, just ask my wife! But that's what I said to the players beforehand - this is the place to be, let me tell you. Tottenham at home, a ground full of punters and a beautiful day. It's a great, great life and you have to make the most of it."

Making the most of it is something that Chopra is clearly determined to do following a succession of disappointments at St James' Park.

Written off as a failure after repeatedly playing understudy to the likes of Alan Shearer and Michael Owen, the 23-year-old rebuilt his reputation with 22 goals in the Championship last season.

Yet still the critics claimed he had found his level. Eyebrows were raised nationally when he completed his multi-million pound move to Sunderland last month, although they were nothing compared to the questions that were asked on Wearside.

Could such a self-confessed Newcastle supporter ever be accepted in Sunderland? The answer was delivered with one flick of the foot.

"I knew I had to get a good start to win over some of the Sunderland fans," said Chopra, after his calm side-footed finish had rounded off some impressive approach play from the lively Ross Wallace. "I knew some had doubts about me coming to the club, but they probably love me now.

"I have always said that I love scoring and, whether it is my first or my last, I will celebrate like a madman.

"When I scored for Newcastle in that game, it was my first Premiership goal and it just happened to be against Sunderland. If it had been against Manchester United or Chelsea, I would have followed it with exactly the same reaction.

"I scored my first goal for Sunderland here, and I lost the plot again because I was so emotional. I just get such a buzz from scoring."

And, it seems, from disproving his critics. "I have always believed I am good enough to play at this level," Chopra added. "I knew that when I left Newcastle for Cardiff, people had doubts about me playing in the Premiership.

"They said I had to drop down to the Championship because I wasn't good enough, but I was just desperate for someone to give me a chance.

"I look at it as having taken one step back to go two steps forward."

The same could be said of Sunderland following last season's rebuilding job in the Football League.

One swallow does not make a summer, but Saturday's passionate performance suggests that Keane's insistence that his side have not arrived in the Premier League to make up the numbers is grounded in truth.

Two seasons ago, an opening-day home defeat to Charlton Athletic set the tone for a campaign that repeatedly saw Sunderland's multiple shortcomings exposed.

While Saturday's display was not without its weaknesses, the Black Cats' tenacity and commitment suggest that things are going to be very different this time around.

While McCarthy was unable to convince his squad that they belonged in the Premier League, Keane has successfully persuaded his players that they are not out of place.

Two years ago, Nyron Nosworthy was like a rabbit in the headlights following his summer move from Gillingham.

On Saturday, against a Tottenham side boasting more than £40m worth of attacking talent, he produced as dominant a centre-half display as it is possible to imagine.

With Paul McShane proving equally impressive alongside him - the former Manchester United trainee already appears to have been one of the steals of the summer at £2.5m - Spurs, supposedly a side capable of gate-crashing the top four, did not force debutant Craig Gordon into a single save of note until substitute Tom Huddlestone fired a speculative half-volley into his midriff in the 89th minute.

Sunderland had not created a great deal themselves either by then, although England goalkeeper Paul Robinson had been forced into a smart smothering save to thwart the generally-ineffective Daryl Murphy before the break.

Robinson did even better within a minute of Huddlestone's effort - flinging himself to his left to claw away a Dickson Etuhu effort that bounced awkwardly off the midfielder's thigh - and that save appeared to have earned Spurs a point.

But Chopra's late strike proved decisive, ensuring that Sunderland were able to celebrate the start of the season in style.

"The manager just told us to do ourselves proud," said the match-winner.

"He mentioned the fact that, last time they were in the Premiership, Sunderland had six points up to Christmas.

"He said, 'Make sure that doesn't happen, and have a bit of pride about yourselves'. I think that's exactly what we had."