Sunderland fight back in vain as Baggies climb to third

West Bromwich Albion survived a late Sunderland onslaught to claim a well-deserved victory to climb above Chelsea into third.

The victory was the Baggies’ fourth consecutive league win, leaving them just five points behind leaders Manchester United.

A 3-1 success at Fulham last weekend was Sunderland first league victory since September and the Black Cats were soon on the front foot again, Adam Johnson forced a good, early save from Boaz Myhill.

A rather subdued Stephan Sessegnon had tormented Fulham’s back four after a fairly low-key start to the season, the Sunderland midfielder seemed intent on inflicting similar punishment on a West Brom side bolstered by the meaningful presence of Jonas Olsson.

Sessegnon’s volley brought another good save from Myhill midway through the first half as the hosts continued to search for an opener.

In Peter Odemwingie, the Baggies have a striker full of confidence having scored three times in his last two games.

But Odemwingie turned provider for West Brom’s opener on the half hour, the striker setting up Zoltan Gera, who fired past Simon Mignolet to give the visitors the lead.

Despite their wonderful start to the season, Steve Clarke’s side had only recorded their first away win last time out at Wigan.

Mignolet helped them towards securing their second just before half time, gifting Shane Long a tap in after fumbling Chris Brunt’s over hit through pass.

The Belgian Keeper’ partly repaired some of the earlier damage, denying Long a second just after the restart.

With Albion unable to kill the game, Sunderland remained hopeful of a fight back. The introduction of Louis Saha gave greater support to the isolated figure of Steven Fletcher.

A deflected Craig Gardner free kick brought Sunderland back to within touching distance, with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Sessegnon’s diverted strike drifted just wide, with the Stadium of Light crowd sensing a second half comeback.

Adam’s Johnson’s apparent trip on Liam Ridgewell dampened the mood, with Romelu Lukaku scoring from the spot to restore the Baggies two goal advantage.

A rather frenetic last 10 minutes ensued, Sessegnon followed up Fletcher’s well saved header to rekindle hope with five minutes left.

But substitute Marc Antoine Fortune sealed the victory deep into stoppage time, coolly slotting beyond Mignolet to secure the Baggies fourth straight Premier League win.

Manager Clarke reflected positively on his side’s well deserved victory, believing the Baggies were good value for the win.

He said: “We deserve credit it’s a big challenge to win four matches in a row.

The personality of the players was the best thing from today, we passed the ball and played very well.”

However Clarke also feels the penalty decision that went for his side was a touch fortunate.

He added: “It looks as though on reflection the penalty was fortuitous, but no-one can say we didn’t deserve to win.”

Allen unafraid to alter his winning team

Npower League Two leaders Gillingham opened up a seven point lead at the top of the table following Saturday’s last gasp victory over Morecambe, but manager Martin Allen has stated he will continue to rotate his starting line-up despite his side’s strong start to the campaign.

Deon Burton struck three minutes into stoppage time to extend the Gills’ unbeaten run to five games, leaving Allen to praise his side’s character.

Speaking to the club‘s website Allen said: “The credit has got to go to the players. They are the ones who do it.

“I only found that out as I walked into the media room, someone told me we have gone seven points clear and that’s quite amazing.”

Match winner Burton came on as a substitute with a quarter of the match remaining, the Gillingham boss believes strength in depth is a key part of the Kent club’s success so far this season.

He added: “Never say never - to have people like Deon Burton, Myles Weston with Charlie Allen and Charlie Lee on the bench - what a difference they all make when they come on.

“In modern football your subs have to be quality, they have to be powerful, and thankfully we've got them here. We have match winners sitting on our bench so it was a difficult one with which player to put on.”

The former Notts County and Barnet boss is set to freshen things up once again for the visit of Exeter City on Tuesday evening.

He continued: “It's up to us to raise our game. We have to play well.

“We'll make a lot more changes on Tuesday night to freshen it up and bring some of those people sitting on the bench to come and play.”

Following the visit of the Grecians the Gills make the long trip north to face Accrington Stanley, before an FA Cup second round meeting with Preston the weekend after.

Allen’s managerial experience and approach have certainly served Gillingham well so far, but it will be interesting to see whether the Kent club can continue to dominate at the top of League Two going into the New Year.