Alex Neil had the last laugh on his return to Wearside as his Stoke City side humiliated Sunderland 5-1 at the Stadium of Light.
Neil left Sunderland at the end of August to take the reins at Stoke, just days after overseeing the Black Cats' 1-0 win at the bet365 Stadium, and he was greeted with boos on his return to the club he steered out of League One last season.
But Neil was all smiles at full-time after watching his team dismantle Sunderland in a second half that saw many home fans head for the exits long before the whistle went. Josh Laurent gave Stoke the lead in controversial circumstances five minutes before half-time, and the visitors stretched their lead as Tyrese Campbell scored two goals in five minutes before the hour to make it 3-0.
Alex Pritchard marked his return to the team with a goal just after the hour mark to give Sunderland brief hope, but it was snuffed out soon after as former Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle scored twice to heap further agony on Tony Mowbray's side. It was a record-equalling defeat for Sunderland at the Stadium of Light - only Coventry City in 2019 have scored five goals at the club's new home, and no opponent has won there by more than four goals.
And it was a third successive reverse for the Black Cats, who have now picked up just a single point from their last four games and have slipped from the play-off spots to tenth place in the space of a fortnight. Mowbray made one change to the side that started last weekend's defeat at Coventry City, with Pritchard coming into midfield in place of Edouard Michut, with the Frenchman - who turned 20 today - dropping to the bench.
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Neil had made multiple changes for his side's midweek FA Cup fifth round defeat against Premier League Brighton, but against Sunderland he reverted largely to the side that lost 1-0 at home to Millwall last weekend. There were still two changes to the side that had faced the Lions, however, with Ki-Jana Hoever and Campbell coming into the side in place of Bersant Celina and Morgan Fox.
Will Smallbone had an early chance for Stoke, meeting Tyrese Campbell's left-wing cross at full stretch but he could only divert it wide of the post. But at the other end Sunderland began to threaten with Pritchard sending a volley over the bar, while a few minutes later Amad saw a shot blocked behind for a corner.
Stoke were forced into a substitution before the half-hour when Ben Wilmot was unable to continue after a challenge from Dan Neil and he was replaced by Fox, while Neil was booked. Sunderland went close five minutes before the break when Aji Alese delivered the ball into the box and Danny Batth went up with Hoever for the header, while goalkeeper Matija Sarkic came off his line and made contact with his defender who went down in a heap clutching his head, but play continued as Joe Gelhardt sent an effort towards goal but it was cleared off the line.
Hoever received treatment on the pitch, and then came the controversy as referee Jeremy Simpson gave possession to Sarkic even though Sunderland had the ball when he had stopped play. The keeper then played the ball out to Hoever who had just come back onto the pitch, and Stoke immediately went downfield and scored as Smallbone's low ball into the box from the right was fired home by Laurent from 12 yards out.
Sunderland were furious, and their mood did not improve as Simpson blew for half-time in the middle of an attack. Mowbray walked slowly onto the pitch to speak to the official after the whistle had gone, and was booked for his trouble.
Mowbray made a double change at half-time, with Gelhardt and Alese going off to be replaced by Michut and Luke O'Nien, while Stoke changed goalkeeper with Jack Bonham replacing Sarkic. But Stoke doubled their lead on 53 minutes as they ruthlessly punished a mistake from Neil.
The midfielder played his pass against Gayle near the halfway line, and he collected it before releasing Smallbone galloping through the right-hand channel and as he got into the box and Anthony Patterson came out to meet him, he squared for Campbell to apply the finish. Four minutes later, Campbell added his second and Stoke's third as again a mistake cost Sunderland dear.
This time it was left-back O'Nien's error, as he gave the ball away and it was spead out to Campbell inside the area on the left, his initial shot was blocked but it came back to him and he curled a right-foot shot beyond Patterson and inside the far post. Sunderland pulled a goal back on 62 minutes, with Amad feeding the ball to Patrick Roberts inside the area on the right and his cross was met by Pritchard at the near post tapping home from a yard out.
But any hopes Sunderland had of getting back into the game were shortlived. Gayle restored Stoke's three-goal cushion on 68 minutes, when Smallbone's free-kick from the right was headed down inside the box, Fox's shot was parried by Patterson and the striker reacted first to score from close range.
And Gayle made it 5-1 in the 76th minute, heading in from another Smallbone free-kick with Patterson getting a touch to the ball but unable to keep it out. Only a brilliant stop from Patterson in injury-time denied Gayle a hat-trick, but by then it hardly mattered.
How they lined up
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Ballard, Batth, Alese (O'Nien 46), Neil, Pritchard, Roberts, Amad, Clarke, Gelhardt (Michut 46). Subs not used: Bass, Lihadji, Bennette, Ba, Ekwah
Booked: Neil
Stoke City: Sarkic (Bonham 46), Hoever, Wilmot (Fox 26), Jagielka, Sterling, Pearson (Thompson 66), Laurent (Baker 80), Brown, Smallbone, Campbell (Tymon 80), Gayle. Subs not used: Taylor, Lowe
Booked: Pearson, Laurent
Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire)
Attendance: 43,064
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