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Chopra gamble pays dividends
SUNDERLAND 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 0
Michael Chopra’s month-long marriage may have been a disaster but his finishing in the North-east derby was truly devastating.
Chopra has been in rehab to cure a gambling addiction which led to such a speedy marriage breakdown, but was the difference in this derby with a late brace to leave Boro deflated and defeated.
This after Stewart Downing had blazed his 72nd-minute penalty into a hot-dog stand. He also failed to hit the target from
12 yards in a win over Stoke a few weeks ago but, this time, it was a turning point as Chopra made him pay.
Chopra netted only six times last season after a £5million move from Cardiff and his days at Sunderland were said to be over – not now. There was an element of certainty about his first goal which bore all the hallmarks of a class finisher.
Having come off the bench just before half-time, he took advantage of a poor David Wheater clearance to break the deadlock and, in injury time, added a second – the perfect finish to a memorable day for a Geordie-born striker.
He said: “I’ve been grateful to the manager for giving me some time off because things have been hard for me. Funnily enough, when I left the house I said to my little baby boy Sebastien I would score a goal for him. I got two, so he’ll be happy.
“He’s only seven months, so he would only have understood a little bit, but I’m sure he will be happy when he sees his daddy on Match of the Day scoring goals.
“I haven’t had too many happier days in football. Missing games has made this even more special because I was desperate to get back into the team and do well.”
Sunderland (4-4-2): Gordon 8; Chimbonda 5, Ferdinand 6, Nosworthy 6, McCartney 7; Malbranque 6, Whitehead 6, Tainio 5 (Chopra 45, 9), Richardson 6; Cisse 5 (Murphy 69, 6), Diouf 6 (Reid 68, 6). Booked: Chopra. Goals: Chopra 81, 90.
Boro (4-5-1): Turnbull 6; Wheater 6, Pogatetz 7, Huth 7, Taylor 6; Aliadiere 5, Digard 6 (Shawky 68, 7), O’Neil 7, Downing 6, Johnson 7 (Hoyte 68, 6); Alves 6. Booked: Shawky.
Referee: H Webb (Yorkshire).