Football: Wearside hamstrung by Owen

Sunderland 0 Liverpool 2

SUNDERLAND HAVE not beaten Liverpool in a league match on Wearside since 1958. It would be no great surprise if they never did so again, judging by the fates Dame Fortune stacked so cruelly against them on Saturday. Peter Reid's men had two shots cleared off the line, two valid penalty claims denied, two goal-bound efforts spectacularly saved and Kevin Phillips missed two sitters. Liverpool had only two shots on target. Both hit the bullseye.

In one respect, though, the afternoon's frustrations offered further encouragement to the regulars in the 42,015 crowd, a record attendance for the Stadium of Light.

That 1958 defeat of Liverpool happened to be the second match for which the old Roker Park programme was printed minus the proud boast on the front cover that Sunderland were the "Only Club Which Has Never Played In Any Other Than The First Division." Forty-one years on, Sunderland are still striving to re-establish themselves as a top-flight club and, to that end, being unfortunate to lose to a re-emerging Liverpool team was a positive sign of progress.

It was Sunderland's first league defeat at the Stadium of Light for precisely 12 months, though - even with five players serving suspensions, among them first-team regulars Steve Bould, Stefan Schwarz and Chris Makin - they proved more than a match for Gerard Houllier's side. The trouble is the bookings that Gavin McCann, Alex Rae and Paul Butler collected means Reid will have to field another under-strength team when Chelsea come to Wearside on Saturday week.

"It'll be very interesting to see how good the squad is," Reid said, "but the lads who came in today proved they could handle the situation. We played really well and got nothing out of it. The only fault was in our finishing."

Unfortunately for the Sunderland manager, a Liverpool supporter in his youth, it was not a shortcoming that Michael Owen shared. The teenager might not be back to his sharpest following his latest hamstrung period but the cutting edge he displayed in the 63rd minute was the defining moment of Saturday's match. Beating Jody Craddock to a long ball out on the left, he jinked inside the Sunderland defender and clipped a delicate right-foot shot over the diving Thomas Sorensen.

"Michael's going through a difficult period," Houllier acknowledged. "He just needs time and games. The goal will certainly help his confidence because it was the kind that only he can score."

The Liverpool manager was right to add that his developing team still need time to find their collective feet, too. They may have extended their unbeaten run to seven Premiership matches and taken a maximum 12 points from their last four fixtures but they had luck on their side on Saturday, even after David Thompson set up Patrik Berger for the late clincher that made their latest victory safe.

Admittedly, Rigobert Song, Sander Westerveld, Jamie Redknapp and Owen all had their moments. But Liverpool on Saturday were still a long way short of the finished article.

"We're showing more of the strength and solidity that are needed for a top team," Houllier said. "But it doesn't mean we are a top team. It means we're just gradually getting to terms with things."

Goals: Owen (63) 0-1; Berger (85) 0-2.

Sunderland (4-4-2): Sorensen; Williams, Butler, Craddock, Gray; Summerbee, Rae (Reddy, 84), Roy, McCann; Quinn, Phillips. Substitutes not used: , Marriott (gk), Holloway, Fredgaard, Thirlwell.

Liverpool (4-4-1-1): Westerveld; Song, Henchoz, Hyypia, Matteo; Gerrard (Thompson, 82), Redknapp, Hamann, Berger; Murphy (Meijer, 74); Owen (Heggem, 90). Substitutes not used: Friedel (gk), Traore.

Referee: D Gallagher (Banbury).

Bookings: Sunderland: McCann, Rae, Butler. Liverpool: Henchoz, Gerrard, Thompson.

Man of the match: Summerbee.

Attendance: 42,015.