Bent treble seals rare Sunderland win
Reuters - Tuesday 09 March 2010, 22:06
Sunderland secured their first
win in 15 Premier League games when they beat Bolton Wanderers
4-0 with a Darren Bent hat-trick while Birmingham City reversed
last Saturday's FA Cup loss at Portsmouth with a 2-1 away win.
Sunderland, who were sixth in the league in October, went
into Tuesday's game two places above the relegation zone with
their last win coming against Arsenal in November.
They got off to a flying start when Fraizer Campbell scored
after 41 seconds and Bent's second-half treble settled it.
His first came after 64 minutes when the striker cut inside
to shoot home. He was then shoved over by Sam Ricketts for a
penalty 10 minutes later which he dispatched himself .
Ricketts earned a second yellow card for the offence and was
sent off and a forgettable night for Bolton, who had won their
previous two games but now drop below Sunderland to 14th, was
completed two minutes from time when Bent swept in his third.
Birmingham gained a measure of revenge for their 2-0 FA Cup
quarter-final defeat with an easy win against a Portsmouth side
who struggled to reproduce the attitude that took them into the
semi-finals.
Cameron Jerome ran through to fire Birmingham ahead after 16
minutes and banged in the second shortly before halftime after a
clever backheel by Christian Benitez.
Nwankwo Kanu glanced in his first league goal of the season
in injury time for a consolation for the bottom club.