Sunderland victory over Man City 'remarkable' says O'Neill

ON A WEEKEND of upsets that saw home defeats for Manchester United and Chelsea, the most dramatic moment was saved to the end as Ji Dong-won scored for Sunderland with the last kick of the match against Manchester City. The stunning 1-0 defeat of the Premier League pace-setters means that City are now level on 45 points with neighbours United with only goal difference keeping the Sky Blues at the top of the table.

City went into the match knowing that United's shock 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers 24 hours earlier, along with Chelsea's humiliation at the hands of Aston Villa and Tottenham's draw with Swansea, was a wonderful opportunity to reassert their authority at the start of the second half of the season.

But Martin O'Neill's men were in determined mood at the Stadium of Light and there were chances at both ends in a pulsating match. Nicklas Bendtner and Stephane Sessegnon came close for Sunderland while in a second half, largely dominated by the visitors, Edin Dzeko and Micah Richards rattled the woodwork for City.

Yet in the third minute of overtime Sunderland broke with lightning speed and Ji Dong-won latched on to Sessegnon's deft pass inside the City box. Keeping his cool in the face of the advancing Joe Hart, the 20-year-old South Korean rounded the keeper and slid the ball into an empty net to send O'Neill and the Sunderland faithful wild.

"It was a remarkable performance by the team," said O'Neill, who has masterminded three wins in the last five games since taking over as manager from Steve Bruce in November.

Told that Ji looked a touch offside when he took Sessegnon's pass, O'Neill replied: "I'm still delighted. You know this idea about things evening themselves up? I actually didn't believe it. But last week, with the penalty decisions against us [that earned Everton a 1-1 draw], it does level it up."

City boss Robert Mancini was left rueing his side's inability to kill off Sunderland in the second half despite their dominance of possession. "I can't believe it. I am really disappointed," said Mancini. "Second half we had a lot of chances to score, but we didn't score... we deserved to win this game."

Mancini must now lift his players before the visit of Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium tomorrow, and also get his side scoring again after failing to do so against Sunderland and - last week - West Bromwich Albion.

"We need to get the concentration for the next game. We play again in 48 hours," he told reporters on Sunday. "I think we threw out of the window a big chance to go clear at the top, but the championship is long and we have another 19 games. We need to get another 45 points." ·