Newcastle v Sunderland: half time report
Newcastle 3 Sunderland 0
A superb brace from Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan and a penalty from Shola Ameobi has given the Magpies a stunning 3-0 half-time lead against Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby.
Nolan broke the deadlock midway through the first half with an acrobatic finish, before doubling his side's advantage with a neat tap-in 10 minutes later. And on the stroke of half-time, Ameobi made it three with a well-taken penalty.
The deafening atmosphere inside St James' Park helped to produce a frantic opening 45 minutes, with both sets of players visibly up for the battle.
The hosts started well, but it was two of Sunderland's England U21 internationals who went close to opening the scoring inside the first 10 minutes. First, Danny Welbeck had a shot deflected wide after running half the length of the pitch, before Jordan Henderson hit a speculative long-range effort which flew narrowly over Tim Krul's crossbar.
However, it was Chris Hughton's side who were presented with the first real opportunity on the 23rd minute. A Joey Barton corner was met by Andy Carroll at the far post, and the striker's headed knock-down was struck agonisingly wide by Ameobi.
Spurred on by that narrow miss, Newcastle began to pile on the pressure and, moments later, were rewarded for their persistence.
Nolan's glorious improvised finish from inside the six-yard box sailed into the roof of the Sunderland net, sending the Toon supporters into raptures.
And 10 minutes later, the Newcastle skipper grabbed his sixth goal of the season, latching on to a mis-hit shot from his lodger, Carroll, before turning the ball into the net and wheeling away in celebration.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce reacted by making a tactical substitution five minutes before the break. Ballon d'Or contender Asamoah Gyan was sent on for Ahmed Elmohamady – but the Mackems faced an uphill struggle to get themselves back into the match.
Then, in first-half injury time, a foul by Nedum Onuoha on Jonas Gutierrez left Phil Dowd with no option but to point to the spot. Despite Nolan just one goal away from sealing his hat-trick, it was Ameobi who stepped up and confidently dispatched his shot low past Simon Mignolet, to leave Bruce's side with a mountain to climb.
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