Come back tomorrow for Pete Sixsmith‘s full analysis – actually, his it is only his nearly full analysis – of this priceless victory. This is how he saw it for The Observer. We start with the view of a Wanderers fan …
SHAUN O’GARA, BWFC Supporters’ Club
I thought we had chances after chances to win it, but we just couldn’t score. We didn’t play well at all today and our season is in danger of petering out, which is a shame to see us end it on a whimper after all that we have achieved. We haven’t got much of a midfield at the moment and that is costing us.
Player ratings:
Jaaskelainen 6; Steinsson 5, Robinson 5, Cahill 6, Knight 6; Muamba 5 (Gardner 46, 7); Taylor 6 (Klasnic 76, 6), Lee 6 (Moreno 76, 6), Elmander 5; Davies 6, Sturridge 6
PETE SIXSMITH, SalutSunderland.com
Not a classic, but for a change we showed plenty of grit and determination especially after giving away a soft equaliser with only minutes left. Steve Bruce got his team selection and tactics exactly right. We are safe now and our tremendous fans can sleep well again until it all starts again in August.
Player ratings
Mignolet 8; Bardsley 7, Mensah 7, Onuoha 7, Ferdinand 7; Zenden 7, Malbranque 6 (Muntari 82), Henderson 7, Colback 8; Elmohamady 6, Sessègnon 8
In football luck has habit of evening itself out if you remain positive , and I think that’s what happened today. A gritty performance that got us the win we wanted, and Bruce the bit of good fortune he deserves. I always felt that we have been very unfortunate with injuries to so many key players and am conviced that those injuries and the timing of Bent’s departure has cost us about 10 points. And I am one of those who feel that the manger is not to blame and look forward to him being in charge for afew mor seasons. Great to se Colbeck in the team and hope that Noble, Knott, Lynch et al geta run out in the next two games.