Phillips turns the screw

Kevin Phillips thoroughly deserved the plaudits after a performance that reactivated the debate over whether he is a striker of genuine international class. The unanimous verdict was positive.

Yet it was the performance of the man alongside him for 71 minutes that undeniably offered a more significant insight into Sunderland's destiny this season.

Phillips has flourished alongside Niall Quinn. Now his new partnership with Lilian Laslandes promises to be equally productive while injecting the attacking variety that Sunderland too often lacked last season.

Quinn was always the totem-pole symbol of Sunderland's uncomplicated style under Peter Reid and, when he was not around or fully fit, their options proved limited.

Laslandes, a France international, lacks Quinn's presence in the air, but his touch and awareness are similar and his intelligent running added a new dimension to Sunderland's approach. At £3.6m sterling, here is an early candidate for bargain of the season.

Phillips has few rivals as bargain of the decade. Reid eventually shelled out £600,000 for Phillips to the endless chagrin of the Ipswich manager George Burley, whose board could not raise the cash after the striker chose them ahead of Sunderland.

A 37th-minute penalty carelessly conceded by Titus Bramble brought the 97th goal in 140 league games for Phillips, a player many believed would be on his way to Arsenal or Tottenham at the end of last season.

Yet the striker is still at the Stadium of Light and approached the opening game in a single-minded manner that suggested he was determined to show he possesses the qualities that make an international striker. Afterwards there was no shortage of people eager to make a case for him.

The Sunderland captain Michael Gray said: "There's no doubt he's an England player. He's had a taste of international football and is hungry for more. In my eyes, Kevin should be in England's starting line-up because I don't think there's a better natural finisher in the country."

And his former Sunderland team-mate Chris Makin, now at Ipswich, added: "He deserves another England outing and has every chance judging from the way he played against us. He looked really sharp and will get another 20 to 25 goals this season." Makin's replacement at Sunderland is Bernt Haas, another of Reid's summer signings who will be a solid addition to a defence that was largely undisturbed by Ipswich.

Nigerian international Finidi George scored an offside goal and brought out a straightforward save from Thomas Sorensen, but struggled with the pace of the game.

Two of Burley's other new faces, the goalkeeper Matteo Sereni and the striker Pablo Counago, also made their first appearances and Counago went closest to an equaliser when Sorensen saved from him eight minutes from the end.

SUNDERLAND: Sorensen, Haas, Gray, Craddock, Thome, Arca (Rae 85), Kilbane, Schwarz, McCann, Phillips, Laslandes (Quinn 71). Subs Not Used: Macho, McCartney, Bellion. Booked: McCann. Goal: Phillips 38 pen.

IPSWICH: Sereni, Makin, Hreidarsson, McGreal (Clapham 72), Bramble, Magilton (Counago 55), Holland, George, Reuser, Stewart, Wright. Subs Not Used: Branagan, Naylor, Wilnis. Booked: Makin.

Referee: G Poll (Tring).