Leadbitter leads Sunderland to victory

Sunderland 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0:Grant Leadbitter's first Sunderland goal was enough for all three points in a well contested game against Sheffield Wednesday.

The result was a fair reflection of a game which saw chances for both teams, but in which the hosts always looked the sharper.

The visitors had the first sight of goal in the seventh minute, but after Chris Blunt shot straight at Sunderland goalkeeper Ben Alnwick from the edge of the area, the Black Cats went straight to the other end where Brad Jones did well to stop Dwight Yorke's shot low down to his left.

Wednesday then created a glorious chance in the 11th minute, with Marcus Tudgay's header finding Drew Talbot all alone in front of goal, but he got the ball stuck under his feet and Stanislav Varga recovered.

Sunderland then had a great chance moments later when Daryl Murphy — a surprise inclusion after a hamstring injury — ran onto Tobias Hysen's cross but shot straight at Jones.

Murphy almost got lucky in the 26th minute. There was no apparent danger as he sent in a cross from the left wing, but Jones let the ball float over his head before it bounced off the top of the crossbar.

Yorke still looked a little off the pace after his summer move from Sydney, and when he was not being flagged offside, he was letting too many balls get away from him — most notably a pass from Leadbitter which would have put him one on one with Jones with a better first touch.

The first half ended with a great chance for Yorke, but he fired wide of the left post when unmarked on the edge of the area.

Sunderland did not take long to get into their stride in the second half, and less than two minutes after the restart Dean Whitehead struck the post with a drilled shot from 20 yards.

Varga then headed over from six yards after connecting with Hysen's free-kick.

But after those early flourishes the game became scrappy until Sunderland broke the deadlock in the 58th minute.

Liam Lawrence found space to send in a cross from the right and the Wednesday defence stood still as Leadbitter broke through to power a first-time shot past Jones for his first Sunderland goal.

Wednesday brought on Wade Small as they sought an equaliser, but they struggled to carve out chances.

As the visitors pushed forward, Sunderland looked dangerous on the attack, and Murphy should have done better when a poor touch carried him away from goal when he had a chance to break through.

Hysen limped off clutching his hamstring in the 76th minute, and home manager Roy Keane will be hoping he is not added to a lengthy injury list.

Sunderland were inches away from a penalty moments later when Graham Coughlan brought down Murphy.

The Black Cats striker went down, but referee Scott Mathieson placed the ball on the right edge of the box. Lawrence's free-kick was headed over.

Wednesday were appealing for a penalty with three minutes left when Burton O'Brien crumbled under a challenge from Kenny Cunningham, but the referee's decision looked right, and Wednesday were condemned to defeat.