A thunderbolt from Craig Gardner handed Sunderland a 1-0 home victory over Southampton on Saturday and a place in the last eight of the FA Cup.
With both teams having met on three previous occasions in the season, there was plenty of cancelling out across a goalless opening 45 minutes where very few chances were created.
It was an uneventful opening period, but the match was lit up by a moment of brilliance four minutes after the interval.
Black Cats debutant Ignacio Scocco did well down the right only to be dispossessed by Jos Hooiveld.
The ball, though, ran to Gardner with the 27-year-old side-stepping Victor Wanyama before unleashing a fierce 25-yard strike into the back of the net off the underside of the crossbar.
It was a stunning finish from the midfielder, with Southampton keeper Kelvin Davis left with no chance at full stretch.
"The ball came out and Wanyama tried to nick it, but I managed to get it past him and let rip," Gardner told SAFSee. "It was nice to see it go in off the bar.
"It was going a bit high - when the ball hits the bar you always think 'oh no', but when I saw it hit the net I was buzzing."
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| Sunderland player Craig Gardner celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Southampton Photo: AP |
With both teams having met on three previous occasions in the season, there was plenty of cancelling out across a goalless opening 45 minutes where very few chances were created.
It was an uneventful opening period, but the match was lit up by a moment of brilliance four minutes after the interval.
Black Cats debutant Ignacio Scocco did well down the right only to be dispossessed by Jos Hooiveld.
The ball, though, ran to Gardner with the 27-year-old side-stepping Victor Wanyama before unleashing a fierce 25-yard strike into the back of the net off the underside of the crossbar.
It was a stunning finish from the midfielder, with Southampton keeper Kelvin Davis left with no chance at full stretch.
"The ball came out and Wanyama tried to nick it, but I managed to get it past him and let rip," Gardner told SAFSee. "It was nice to see it go in off the bar.
"It was going a bit high - when the ball hits the bar you always think 'oh no', but when I saw it hit the net I was buzzing."
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