McCarthy misery as rare Fowler strike deflates Sunderland

Manchester City 3 Sunderland

Sorry Sunderland's season of misery continued at Maine Road as Manchester City condemned them to a 12th successive Premier League defeat.

Even the mercy of relegation has done nothing to change the Black Cats' fortunes and a double strike from Marc–Vivien Foe either side of an impressive Robbie Fowler lob ensured Mick McCarthy remains without a point from six games as Wearside chief.

However, while the result only confirmed what McCarthy already knew about a side about to enter the history books for all the wrong reasons, it did present City boss Kevin Keegan with a problem or two.

Foe's future is thought to lie away from the club, with Keegan refusing to turn the Cameroon international's season–long loan from Lyon into a permanent deal at the £7million asking price.

Despite interest from elsewhere in the Premiership and, it is thought, in Spain, Foe would prefer to stay with City and, having taken his tally for the season to nine, Keegan probably feels the same, which leaves him with some tough financial decisions to make, particular as, with Peter Schmeichel retiring, he also needs a new goalkeeper.

All that is of little consequence to Sunderland though, who unless they can gather six points from their last three games will become the worst team the Premiership has ever seen.

On the evidence served up here, it is easy to see why. Without a creative spark in midfield to compare with City's brilliant Algerian Ali Benarbia, a team full of willing workers is not enough at this level, especially with confidence so low it has almost disappeared through the floor.

Kevin Kyle managed a couple of headers without coming close to troubling Peter Schmeichel, who was so short of something to do he decided to turn a rare Kevin Phillips shot into a save even though it was destined to finish well wide.

The demise of Phillips from a potential England centre–forward mirrors that of his club. The striker, who left his team with 10 men when he limped off shortly before the end, will undoubtedly be offloaded during the summer as Sunderland adjust to the financial hardships of life outside the top flight, however, it is difficult to see Arsenal, potential suitors of the past, showing any interest now given his wretched recent form.

City's recent struggles suggested they were also looking forward to the summer. However, an unexpectedly easy win at Spurs on Good Friday gave them the kick–start manager Kevin Keegan had been looking for and though their early play was no better than in previous weeks, they retained sufficient enthusiasm to keep pushing forward and eventually got their reward.

Keegan does seem have found a way of keeping Anelka working hard, even if his record signing has been struggling for goals recently.

And, when the Frenchman collected a long ball deep inside visitors territory, he unselfishly chose to dribble to the by–line instead of going for goal himself, cut inside Sean Thornton and laid a pass into Foe's path which invited the clinical finish which followed.

Having taken that hammer blow, Sunderland needed time to clear their heads and regroup, instead Fowler slammed them to the floor again, lobbing home Benarbia's astute pass from the edge of the area, just the type of finish which persuaded Keegan to make a mercy dash to Merseyside to resurrect the deal which looked to have collapsed at the turn of the year.

The relief of Graham Barber's half–time whistle at least offered the Wearsiders some relief from their pain and if Schmeichel had not shown the agility of a man 10 years younger at the start of the second period, they might easily have mounted a comeback.

As it was, the retiring great Dane flung himself across goal after initially keeping out Phillips' long–range effort and turned away Marcus Stewart's six–yard strike from the rebound.

It proved to be the Black Cats' last chance for a while as Djamel Belmadi, another man desperate to earn himself a permanent City deal, set about trying to impress Keegan.

In between blasting a good chance wide from the edge of the box and floating a 20–yard free–kick past the other post, Belmadi also showed impressive vision to release Niclas Jensen down the left, Mart Poom forced to intervene to deny Anelka a tap–in.

Foe finished the job off though, firing home his second from Belmadi's slide–rule cross, although it still couldn't silence the defiant visiting support, who mustered more noise than their team deserved.

Manchester City (4-4-2): Schmeichel 7; Dunne 5 (Belmadi 7, 40), Sommeil 6, Distin 6, Jensen 5; Foé 7, Benarbia 7, Barton 6, Wright-Phillips 8; Fowler 6, Anelka 6. Substitutes not used: Nash (gk), Macken, Bischoff, Sun Jihai.

Sunderland (4-3-3): Poom 5; Williams 6, Craddock 6, McCartney 5, Gray 6; Thornton 6, Kilbane 5, Arca 5 (Dickman 5, h-t); Phillips 5, Stewart 5 (Flo 4, 62), Kyle 4 (Proctor 5, 62). Substitutes not used: Sorensen (gk), Clark.

Referee: G Barber (Hertfordshire).