Steve Bruce’s Halloween nightmare – Relive Newcastle 5-1 Sunderland, 16 years on
On this day in 2010, Newcastle United produced one of the most memorable Tyne-Wear derby performances in history, thrashing Steve Bruce’s Sunderland 5-1 at St James’ Park.
A Kevin Nolan hat-trick and a brace from Shola Ameobi ensured we demolished our local rivals in the famous ‘Demolition Derby’, recording our biggest win over the Mackems for more than half a century.
Nolan and Ameobi run riot on Halloween
There was plenty riding on the occasion, with Sunderland arriving on Tyneside unbeaten in seven games and boasting one of the Premier League’s best defensive records.
However, Chris Hughton’s Mags had other ideas, 16 years ago today.
In front of a 51,988 crowd, captain Nolan opened the scoring after 26 minutes with a spectacular overhead kick, before doubling our advantage just eight minutes later.
Ameobi then made it three from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time after Jonás Gutiérrez was brought down by Nedum Onuoha.
Things went from bad to worse for Bruce’s side early in the second half when former Newcastle defender Titus Bramble was shown a straight red card for bringing down Andy Carroll.
Ameobi volleyed home his second of the afternoon on 70 minutes, before Nolan completed his hat-trick five minutes later to put the finishing touch on a famous derby demolition.
Darren Bent grabbed a late consolation for Sunderland, but it did little to spoil what had been a glorious afternoon for the Toon Army.
Nolan’s treble made him the first player to score a Tyne-Wear derby hat-trick since Peter Beardsley in 1985.
The result also came at a significant time for Hughton, who had faced speculation over his future in the days leading up to the game. He was serenaded by the home supporters after masterminding one of the club’s most emphatic derby victories.
The team sheets
Newcastle United (4-4-2): Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson, José Enrique; Joey Barton, Cheick Tioté, Kevin Nolan (c), Jonás Gutiérrez; Shola Ameobi, Andy Carroll.
Substitutes: Ole Söderberg, James Perch, Ryan Taylor, Alan Smith, Wayne Routledge, Peter Løvenkrands, Nile Ranger.
Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Simon Mignolet; Phil Bardsley, Titus Bramble, Michael Turner, Nedum Onuoha; Lee Cattermole (c); Ahmed Elmohamady, Jordan Henderson, Steed Malbranque, Danny Welbeck; Darren Bent.
Substitutes: Craig Gordon, Kieran Richardson, John Mensah, Bolo Zenden, Paulo da Silva, Anton Ferdinand, Asamoah Gyan.
After so many poor results against the Mackems in recent years, let’s hope we put things right when we meet again in December!
