Newcastle and Middlesbrough pick up crucial wins, whilst Sunderland capitulate at home

Local TV Sport

Newcastle United continued their push for Europe, with Middlesbrough hopeful of making a late play-off dash. Sunderland though, managed to throw away initial optimism with a capitulation against Blackburn. Daniel Wales reports.

Transcript

00:00 For Sunderland, their good Friday was good indeed as they finally ended their winless

00:07 run away at Cardiff City with a 2-0 victory in the Welsh capital.

00:12 Interim head coach Mike Dodds got the reaction he was looking for after the international

00:17 break and they returned to the Stadium of Light on Easter Monday full of optimism.

00:23 That was to be short lived though.

00:25 A horror show on Wearside was to be seen by those in attendance at the Stadium of Light

00:31 as the Black Cats shipped five goals with only one in reply to a struggling Blackburn

00:36 Rovers side.

00:38 Following the final whistle, fans were calling for change at the boardroom level with many

00:43 becoming disillusioned with the club's recruitment model.

00:47 Talk of a high performance culture seemed like a bad joke to the Sunderland supporters.

00:53 And they weren't wrong with this result being only the third time they had conceded

00:58 five goals at the Stadium of Light since the club moved there in the 1990s.

01:04 Change is needed fast on Wearside before things get ugly for those of a red and white persuasion.

01:14 On Tyneside, chaos has become the norm as matches go for Newcastle United are of late

01:20 owing to various squad injury issues, with Easter Saturday being no exception.

01:26 They took the lead early thanks to an Alexander Izak penalty but fell behind to two West Ham

01:31 goals before half time.

01:33 Their day got even worse after the break as the Hammers went 3-1 ahead, but this side

01:39 has a never say die attitude.

01:41 Another Izak penalty brought them back into it before a brace from Harvey Barnes sealed

01:47 a memorable win for the Magpies.

01:50 It was not without issue however, as Jamal Lassells, Miguel Almiron and Tino Livramento

01:56 all picked up injuries during the game.

01:59 Eddie Howe's side welcome Everton to St James' Park next, hoping to continue their European

02:05 push.

02:06 Jamal Lassells will not feature again this season though, as his injury was particularly

02:11 serious, an ACL tear similar to that of Sven Bottmans which will keep him sidelined for

02:17 six to nine months as he recovers from surgery.

02:22 Finally, Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough managed to win four important points over

02:27 the course of the weekend.

02:29 They snatched a late draw away at a strong Southamptonside before returning to Teesside

02:35 to claim a comfortable 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

02:40 Inconsistency has plagued Boris' season, but fans will hope that there is still a lingering

02:46 hope that they could yet make the playoffs despite on paper it being unlikely.

02:52 Other sides would have to drop points, but for those of a Middlesbrough persuasion, they

02:56 will hope that is possible.

02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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