The Tyne-Wear derby was always one of the most anticipated games of the Premier League season. The rivalry between Newcastle United and Sunderland is one of the most fierce in the country, but sadly, we haven’t had a derby for over four-and-a-half years now.
The Magpies went down and came back up immediately, but Sunderland have stayed down. The Black Cats now play their trade in the third division of English football, which really is a shame considering how big they once were.
Newcastle, on the other hand, are on the up in the Premier League. The Magpies finished last season in 13th place. Steve Bruce had a fantastic summer transfer window, and he will be looking to improve on last term’s finish.
That would increase the gap between the two North-East clubs even more. Sunderland would love nothing more than to return to the top-flight to get one over their fierce rivals, who have been the happier bunch for a few years now.
One of the last times the two sides met, Jermaine Defoe stole all the plaudits after a stunner to open the scoring. The Englishman, now at Rangers, was asked to name the top five goals of his career, and he put the strike against Newcastle at the very top.
Defoe: ‘I just hit it so sweet, so perfect’
He told Sky Sports: “It was derby day. Massive game, massive occasion. It’s so important for the football club. All I wanted to do was to make an impact on the game – I was just so desperate to score and win.”
“It was the 44th minute or something, the ball went long and Fletch (Steven Fletcher) flicked it to the side of me and I have said this so many times…the reason why I volleyed it, was because I was so tired!”
“I had put so much energy into the first half, I thought I am not going to control this as I am so knackered, I’ll probably lose the ball, so I just hit it. It was just one of those moments that soon as it left my foot – and it was on my left foot as well – I just thought inside “oh my god”.”
“I just hit it so sweet, so perfect and one of those you hit maybe once in training and fifty other times it’ll just go over the bar.”
“When it went in, I was just like “Wow” and when you watch it back, everyone can see the celebrations and obviously you can see me crying like a little baby. It was such a special goal for me and the way I scored it – that’s definitely number one.”
Sunderland supporters would give everything for that to happen in the Premier League again, but they are far away from climbing back to the top of the pyramid. The Black Cats are seventh in League One after eight games, not ideal for a club looking to get back into the Championship.
Newcastle United supporters wouldn’t be too fond of Defoe’s best-ever goal, but they wouldn’t worry too much now considering that they have had the bragging rights for over three years.
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