Kilbane impresses as Phillips loses his goal touch

Sunderland 0 Chelsea

For Sunderland's two Kevins, Phillips and Kilbane, this game demonstrated the cyclical nature of football. The last time Chelsea came to Wearside, Phillips won the match with a penalty and Kilbane, in the middle of a run which drew such criticism from his own fans that Peter Reid was unable to select him for home games, was sent off.

Yesterday, Kilbane, starting his first game since September, rediscovered the quality of touch that has made him a regular for the Republic of Ireland while he was discarded by his club and a minute after the interval won a penalty which Phillips failed to convert.

For such a natural striker, Phillips' penalty record is not good and he found Carlo Cudicini in remarkable form. Cudicini had already pulled off a stunning reaction save to deflect a header from his own defender, William Gallas, past the post and, although the spot-kick was struck well enough, he palmed the ball away with both gloves.

Usually, Phillips does this kind of thing when Sven Goran Eriksson is in the stands at the Stadium of Light. There were celebrities yesterday but only in the shape of Peter Ustinov, the chancellor of Durham University, the title of whose autobiography, Dear Me, would sum up Phillips's afternoon.

Kilbane admits that Sunderland are over-reliant on Phillips, who has scored virtually half the meagre total of 13 goals they have managed thus far. Claudio Reyna, whose £4m transfer from Rangers was confirmed on Friday, was unable to beef up a midfield, which has never properly recovered from the sale of Don Hutchison, due to arriving on Wearside with a groin injury.

Moments after the hubbub from the penalty had died away, Kilbane presented Phillips with another fine, deep cross which the striker met with a downward header from less than six yards that Cudicini saved with his legs. Phillips promptly thumped the ball into the wall of red-and-white shirts gathered behind the goals in a gesture of frustration.

It was not a sentiment confined to the England striker. Late in the match Reid gave a two-fingered gesture towards the Chelsea bench; although he seldom shirked a tackle as a player, he felt some of the challenges on his team were over-physical.

The Sunderland manager was unable to to attend the post-match press conference, ostensibly because he flying down to London for the Sports Personality of the Year awards, although his assistant, Bobby Saxton, played down talk of a spat with Ranieri. ''I couldn't have had an argument with him because I don't speak Italian.''

In his broken English, Ranieri attempted to explain with considerable justification why Neale Barry was wrong to disallow Chelsea's goal 12 minutes from the end. The referee considered that Mario Melchiot had fouled Thomas Sorensen as the Sunderland keeper tried to take Frank Lampard's corner which was slid into the net by Slavisa Jokanovic, his one positive contribution to the game. Television replays showed there had been no contact.

Away from Stamford Bridge, where they have attracted derision from their fans, Chelsea are a formidable unit as successive clean sheets at Leeds, Manchester United and Sunderland have proved.

With debts near £100m, Ranieri knows this kind of defensive solidity has to be maintained if Chelsea are to re-enter the Champions' League. "Only the last pass today was wrong. we are creating a lot of chances but not scoring," he said. Generally, however, Reid's back-four closed down every inch of space on the edge of the area. "At the end of the season we will be up with the leaders," Ranieri insisted. "It will be hard to get into the Champions' League but I believe in this project."

Sunderland (4-4-2): Sorensen 6, McCartney 6, Williams 7, Thome 6, Gray 6, Kilbane 7, Thirlwell 7, McCann 6, Arca 5, Laslandes 4, Phillips 6. Substitutes not used: Butler, Clarke, Schwarz, Macho (gk).

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cudicini 8, Melchiot 6, Terry 4, Gallas 6, Babayaro 6, Lampard 6, Jokanovic 4, Dalla Bona 5, Stanic 6, Gudjohnsen 6 (Forssell, 89), Hasselbaink 6. Substitutes not used: Keenan, Slatter, Zola, De Goey (gk).

Referee: N Barry (Goole) 4.

Bookings: Sunderland: Arca. Chelsea: Stanic, Dalla Bona, Jokanovic.

Man of the match: Cudicini.

Attendance: 48,017.