It was a goal fest at Clayton Wood on Saturday but Sunderland under-18s left with nothing as Stoke City secured three Premier League points.
Three goals in the opening 22 minutes – a brace from Venancio Da Silva Monteiro and one from Abdoulaye Toure – put the hosts in full control of the fixture.
Jordan Greenidge added to the scoreline before the half was out before Sam Greenwood and Benji Kimpioka reduced the arrears further with 42 minutes played.
The Potters kicked on in the second 45 to prevent more damage being done to their lead, and two goals in the space of 60 seconds from Toure and Greenidge put the game beyond doubt.
Kimpioka notched his second of the afternoon with 82 minutes played but it was too little too late to stage a comeback.
SCENESETTER
Sunderland travelled to Stoke on Friday not knowing whether or not the match would actually take place. Heavy rain had cast doubt on the fixture, resulting in pitch inspections on Friday eventually giving the game the go ahead. Victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out provided more optimism for the Black Cats as they headed south with their tails up while Stoke City knew three points would extend their winning streak to four games.
FAST START
And the Potters certainly got off to the perfect start. Da Silva struck after just three minutes, turning home Greenidge’s cross to leave the Black Cats facing an upfield challenge from the off. Da Silva continued to cause problems in front of goal, linking up with Jacob Twyford before seeing his effort over the bar. However, Stoke did punish the visitors for a slow start as they notched a further two goals in four minutes.
GREEN LIGHT
Again, it was Da Silva. This time the forward linked up with Will Forrester before shifting the ball onto his left foot and curling it beyond Michael Woud who had come off his line to narrow the angle. Toure then joined in on the scoring act after driving at the heart of Sunderland’s defence his effort dipped at the last minute to evade Woud and sneak in underneath the crossbar. Toure then turned provider for the Potters’ fourth eight minutes later, planting a free-kick onto Greenidge’s head for him to turn home.
TWO BACK
Credit to Mark Atkinson’s side, though, as they refused to down tools and set about getting themselves back into the match before the half-time interval. Greenwood led the charge on 34 minutes as he made the most of a defensive mix up and tapped home at the post before Kimpioka made further inroads into the Potters’ lead. Halving it to just two goals, Greenwood turned provider as his did well to get past his man before his low cross was turned in by the Swede.
PUNISHED
But Sunderland’s momentum shift didn’t continue in the second half as Stoke began brightly but were unable to force home their dominance as Greenidge squandered three big chances. Eventually, though, the hosts made one their chances stick – Toure was the man who fended of two challenges before bending a right-footed effort in off the post with 71 minutes played. It was a sucker punch to the Black Cats who had fought with admirable spirit to that point, but the goal turned to two when Greenidge joined in on the act to net his second 60 seconds later. Kimpioka pulled one back with his second of the afternoon in the closing stages but the challenge proved too much to muster and further comeback.
Sunderland: Woud, Kokolo (Dunne, 79), Young, Mumba, Edmundsson (Devine, 57), Lilley (Leonard, 68), Kimpioka, Howard, Hickey, Derbali, Greenwood.
Subs: Newman, Scothern.