Sunderland took a monumental stride towards Premier League safety after twice coming from behind to beat Chelsea 3-2 in a thrilling game at the Stadium of Light.
The Blues could have been reduced to ten men in the first minute of the match, with Gary Cahill bringing down Jermain Defoe just after kick off. Referee Mike Jones, however, correctly adjudged Chelsea captain John Terry to have been covering.
Terry went for an early bath himself just before the final whistle after picking two bookings for late tackles on Defoe and Khazri.
Sunderland had a mountain to climb after the visitors took an early lead through Diego Costa’s tap in, only for Wahbi Khazri’s supreme 20-yard strike to level the scores. The two sides seemed to be heading in level at the break, before Nemanja Matic made the most of the home team’s terrible defending to score in the last minute of first-half injury time.
Spurred on by a capacity crowd, the Wearsiders kept their heads held high and equalised after a switch to 4-4-2. Fabio Borini will be claiming the deflected goal, meaning he has now scored in four goals in four games against Chelsea for Sunderland.
Borini’s goal blew the roof off the Stadium of Light, before it was nearly rocked to its foundations by Jermain Defoe when he set up a nervy finale by scoring Sunderland’s third just three minutes later.
The Black Cats held on for the final twenty minutes, despite losing Lamine Koné to injury early in the second half.
To top off the perfect afternoon for Sunderland, Chelsea captain John Terry was sent off after picking up two bookings in 10 minutes – meaning that he ends his Chelsea career with a red card.
A win for the Black Cats against Everton on Wednesday will guarantee that the Stadium of Light hosts Premier League football for the tenth consecutive season. Having said that, simply not losing either of the last two fixtures will effectively secure top-flight status provided that Newcastle do not thrash Spurs on the last day of the season.
Sunderland Starting XI: Mannone, Yedlin, Koné (O’Shea 55), Kaboul, van Aanholt, Kirchhoff (Watmore 64), Borini, Cattermole [c] (Larsson 71), M’Vila, Khazri, Defoe
Substitutes: Pickford, O’Shea, Rodwell, Larsson, Lens, Watmore, N’Doye
Chelsea Starting XI: Courtois, Ivanovic (Baba 68), Cahill, Terry [c], Azpilicueta, Mikel (Traore 83), Matic, Willian (Oscar 80), Fabregas, Hazard, Costa
Substitutes: Begovic, Baba, Oscar, Loftus-Cheek, Traore, Kenedy, Pato
Goals: Costa (14), Khazri (41), Matic (45+3), Borini (67), Defoe (70)
Bookings: Cahill (1, Foul Play), Cattermole (52, Foul Play), Defoe (70, Excessive Celebration), Terry (87, Foul Play), Kaboul (87, Dissent), Larsson (88, Foul Play), Terry (90+5, Foul Play)
Sent Off: John Terry (90+5, Second Bookable Offence)
Attendance: 47,050
Referee: Mike Jones
