Sunderland (3) 4 Stoke City (0) 0: why on earth were we worried?

It was only half time and we all knew anything could happen. But we were three up and then, instead of trying to sit on even so comfortable a lead, we went quickly back on to the offensive and scored a fourth.

Suddenly it was as if there had never been any serious reason to fret. A win of any kind would have made us feel good, so the most neutral of onlookers would need no prize for guessing our response to a thumping victory.

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