Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0

JUST days after Steve Bruce was criticised for singling out a high-profile individual for a stirring cameo appearance during an England international, the Sunderland manager was left applauding a collective unit at the Stadium of Light – and a big red beach ball.

David Beckham’s second half cameo for his country last week might have lit up Wembley, but an animated Bruce followed every challenge from the technical area as the team he has put together turned in a display that has left Wearside hungry for more. It is seven years since Sunderland last defeated one of the Premier League’s big four and having dispatched of Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool, even if it was with the help of an inflatable object, there are growing shoots of optimism circling among fans.

The players might not want to talk about it, the manager will be keen to avoid the mere suggestion, but Sunderland supporters starved of success for so long are starting to wonder if a push for Europe could be on the cards this season.

Liverpool might have been bereft of the world-class talents of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, while resembling a team destined for mid-table mediocrity rather than one in contention to win the Premier League title this season, but Sunderland helped to make them look that way. There was a slice of good fortune about the way Darren Bent scored his eighth goal in nine starts since his £10m move from Tottenham although, by the time the full-time whistle blew, a one-goal victory was the least they deserved.

For almost 80 minutes Liverpool struggled to live with Sunderland, who should have increased their slender advantage numerous times through Bent, Steed Malbranque and even Jordan Henderson after his introduction from the bench. But in the end they were indebted to a Liverpool crested beach ball for helping to seal a fifth consecutive victory at the Stadium of Light under Bruce.

The freak moment arrived in the fifth minute. Sunderland broke up a Liverpool attack and motored into the visitors’ half through Lee Cattermole. He fed Andy Reid, who skipped around Fabio Aurelio before delivering to the back post from the right, via Malbranque’s heel. Bent, unmarked, struck a pretty harmless shot towards Pepe Reina and the ball cannoned off the giant beach ball – which had been punched into the penalty area by a travelling fan – and completely wrongfooted the Liverpool goalkeeper.

“It was the most bizarre goal I have ever scored,” said Bent. “Someone said after the game that it should have been a drop ball or something, are they the rules?

“At the end of the day you can’t look back on it now. You just have to smile and move on to the next game.

“As soon as the ball went into the net I just ran off to celebrate and I wasn’t aware of anything else that was going on, I just thought it was another goal and hopefully another victory for Sunderland.

“I hadn’t seen the beach ball beforehand, it was quite large and in the middle of their penalty area, so they should have done something about it. It came from their fans, but it was just a goal, I’m delighted with it and we move on.”

Moments after the strike, during a pause in proceedings, Bent had a smile as wide as the River Wear as he joked about the incident with Glen Johnson. The Liverpool full-back, rather predictably, was less jovial. Such contrasting moods became the story of the afternoon, with Sunderland dominating for large periods before standing firm to frustrate Liverpool in the latter stages.

To a man Bruce’s side delivered a display, just two weeks after running Manchester United close, that suggested this should be one of the most successful seasons in the Black Cats’ recent history. The fans, who turned out in full capacity for the first time since last November, have clearly warmed to that too.

“The first nine games have been fantastic and hopefully we can carry it on,” said Bent.

“Noone wants to get carried away and start to talk about Europe and work as hard as we can as a team.”

On the evidence of most of the displays this season, Sunderland are having no problems there. The performance against Liverpool epitomised what Bent was talking about. While the first half brought an impressive attacking display from the home team, as they took the game to Liverpool and should have been more than one goal in front, Bruce was further heartened by the showing after the restart.

When George McCartney departed through illness, Lorik Cana was asked to break up his outstanding partnership with Lee Cattermole in the middle of midfield that had dictated play against Liverpool’s Lucas Leiva and Jay Spearing. But Bruce’s surprise decision to drop Cana into the heart of the defence and switch Anton Ferdinand to full-back instead of bringing on another defender was a masterstroke.

The Albanian, a £5m summer purchase from Marseille, won every header, claimed every loose ball and made many blocks to inspire those around him to keep Liverpool’s late attacks at bay.

“The pleasing thing for me is that we’ve gone above Liverpool with a quarter of a season gone,” said Bruce, who played down a touchline spat with Benitez as “handbags” and laughed off the beach ball goal as “a shame!”

“One of the reasons I came here was because of afternoons like this and to have a team that could match the expectations of the support here,’’ he said. “I’m not being disrespectful to the past, but they’ve never been able to do that, especially in this league. We’ve been up and down four times in ten years.”

Before goalkeeper Craig Gordon was forced to make a stunning double save to deny Dirk Kuyt and David Ngog in the seven minutes of added time, Sunderland would have been out of sight had Bent found the net when he rounded Reina on two separate occasions. But after being thwarted on the first by a recovering Reina and denied by the woodwork on the second, Sunderland were forced to hold on to that small margin.

In doing so they condemned Liverpool to a fourth defeat of the season, leaving them seven points adrift of leaders Manchester United. Bent was unconcerned about Liverpool’s plight. He said: “Usually when you beat somebody from the top four or five it is backs to the wall and an onslaught on your goal.

“This win will be massive for our confidence. We have shown we can mix it with the best in the last two games.

“It’s strange that we have jumped ahead of Liverpool after nine matches, we only just escaped relegation last season, but a couple of new players have joined, myself included, and we knew if we got off to a good start we could have a good season.”

It remains to be seen whether Sunderland can turn a good season into a great one.

On the evidence of this, however, progress is being made far quicker than Bruce or anyone else expected.

Match facts

Goals:

1-0: Bent (5, low drive deflected off the beachball to wrong-foot Reina) Bookings: Cana (8, foul); Kuyt (29, foul); Reid (52, foul)

Referee: Mike Jones (Chester) – failed miserably after allowing beach ball goal to stand 3

Attendance: 47,327

Entertainment: ✰✰✰✰✰

SUNDERLAND (4-4-2):

8 Gordon: Made a vital second half double save and his handling was perfect throughout.

8 Bardsley: This display will make it difficult for him to be moved aside.

7 Turner: Occasional rough edges but mainly solid at the heart of the defence.

7 Ferdinand: Looked solid in the middle and performed admirably as a left-back.

6 McCartney: Lost his footing on a couple of occasions but still a decent display.

8 Malbranque: Showed the sort of performance that he used to regularly for Fulham.

10 CANA: Led from the middle in the first half before turning his hand to a centre-back role exceptionally after the restart.

9 Cattermole: His value to the team will be sorely missed now that he could be out for three months.

9 Reid: First half display was outstanding before having to defend more after the restart.

7 Bent: Just keeps on scoring, even if his latest one was with the hand of a beachball.

7 Jones: Injury cut short his appearance but he still contributed while out there.

Subs:

Henderson (for McCartney 46): Showed enormous maturity in the dying seconds to waste time. 7

Zenden (for Cattermole 58): Made some crucial clearances and looked sharp on his debut. 6

Campbell (for Jones 67): Provided the occasional outlet and dug in for the cause. 6

(not used): Fulop (gk), Nosworthy, Da Silva, Healy.

LIVERPOOL (3-5-2): Reina 6, Carragher 4, Skrtel 4 (Voronin 72), Agger 4; Johnson 7, Spearing 4 (Mascherano 72), Lucas 3, Aurelio 5, Babel 4 (Ngog 81), Benayoun 3; Kuyt 4.

Subs: Cavalieri (gk), Riera, Insua, Kelly.

MAN OF THE MATCH

LORIK Cana – arguably the best allround display from a midfielder / defender ever at the Stadium of Light