With a delicately-taken goal from Michael Bridges, the boy who once would have been king at this his hometown club, Leeds United re-established their four-point lead at the top of the Premiership yesterday.
Bridges's near post flick came six minutes into the second half and made the score 0-2 after Jason Wilcox had drilled Leeds ahead midway through a hardfought, dense and tense first half.
Leeds's two goal advantage lasted just over 60 seconds, however, Kevin Phillips pulling one back with a typical piece of floodlit robbery. But, thanks to some determined defending, Leeds held on and ultimately deserved their win.
Those are the facts. Sadly, they were overshadowed nearly to the point of extinction by the racial background against which the match was played. Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate, the two Leeds players involved in an alleged incident outside a nightclub last Monday night that left an Asian teenager in hospital with broken ribs and a broken leg, were included by David O'Leary and once the game finished questioning centred on O'Leary's team selection.
"The team I picked today was right until I hear otherwise," an initially defensive O'Leary said. He had walked onto the pitch at the end and congratulated Bowyer first and said of his controversial young midfielder: "I thought Lee Bowyer was excellent. Woody (Woodgate) gave away a stupid goal when the game was dead and I know we can play better. But there were more things to do today."
Asked if a display of character was one of those things, O'Leary responded aggressively. "I didn't need to be shown character. It's a soccer match, nobody's been proven guilty. The only thing that's shocked me this week is that MPs haven't got involved. We didn't need to be asked about character today, after 22 games this young side isn't doing bad."
O'Leary then railed against the "sensational crap" that had been written about Bowyer and Woodgate but added: "I've had a chat with them amongst the other players and, believe me, I had plenty to say. I'm disgusted with the publicity we've had, but if anything needs to be done at the club then we won't shirk it. I have been hurt, I have values. I don't just believe in good footballers, I believe in good people."
Trying to separate the personal from the professional is a notoriously difficult business, although in the case of Woodgate the absence of Lucas Radebe meant that the Englishman was always going to play unless charged by the police. At the moment he and Bowyer are on police bail.
Both, as can be expected from Leeds's fans, received wholehearted vocal support. Outside the stadium the Anti-Nazi League distributed leaflets and three turbaned Asian youths in Sunderland kits stood dangerously close to Leeds followers singing Bowyer's name provocatively. Yet Sunderland's fans cannot claim to be much better after shouting "you're just a town full of Pakis" at the Leeds element, a chant gaining an ominous presence at English grounds.
That atmosphere almost completely nullified the return of Bridges to Sunderland for the first time since his transfer in the summer, but not quite. To say his reception was mixed is being kind but Bridges immediately offered the type of target Sunderland were missing because of Niall Quinn's suspension.
It was obviously part of Kevin Kilbane's brief to support Phillips, though when he burst past Gary Kelly in the 13th minute Kilbane did it all himself and saw his shot slide narrowly wide. Wilcox was offering Leeds a similar outlet and, when he collected Stephen McPhail's magnificent stabbed pass, his shot was so fierce it went clean through Thomas Sorensen's grasp.
SUNDERLAND: Sorensen, Williams, Butler, Bould (Craddock 76), Gray (Holloway 45), Kilbane, Rae, Roy (Reddy 63), McCann, Schwarz, Phillips. Subs Not Used: Marriott, Oster. Goals: Phillips 52.
LEEDS: Martyn, Kelly, Woodgate, Duberry, Harte, Wilcox, Bakke, Bowyer, McPhail, Bridges (Huckerby 74), Kewell. Subs Not Used: Haaland, Robinson, Mills, Jones. Booked: Bakke. Goals: Wilcox 24, Bridges 50.
Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).
