NEWCASTLE: Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe celebrates after scoring the winner in the Premier League match against Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.—Reuters

LONDON: Jermain Defoe made himself an instant Sun­der­land hero with a sensational volleyed goal to seal a vital 1-0 win over North East rivals Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Londoner Defoe, signed in January from MLS side Toronto to help Sunderland climb away from danger, sent a dipping thunderbolt over Newcastle keeper Tim Krul just before halftime to send the home fans into delirium.

“Words can’t even describe how I felt when that went in,” Defoe told Sky Sports. “I was very emotional for some reason, as everyone wanted the three points so badly.”

It proved enough to earn Sunderland a first league win in eight attempts and give manager Dick Advocaat a victory in his second match in charge since replacing Gus Poyet.

Relegation-haunted Sunderland moved up to 15th place in the table, three points above third-from-bottom Burnley who had earlier drawn 0-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Newcas­tle remained in 13th place with 35 points.

Fresh off his debut goal for England last week, 21-year-old striker Harry Kane captained Spurs for the first time but was subdued as the team’s slim hopes of Champions League qualification took a hit as they clambered ahead of Southampton into sixth spot with 54 points.

While the race for the Cha­mpions League still remains open, Chelsea’s title triumph seems assured with a seven-point lead and a game in hand at the top.

Under pressure from the chasing pack and rocked on their heels by a Charlie Adam bolt from the blue, Chelsea showed cool heads to re-establish their seven-point lead with a 2-1 home win over Stoke City on Saturday.

Arsenal’s 4-1 thrashing of faltering Liverpool and Manchester United’s 3-1 victory over Aston Villa moved them into second and third places respectively before Chelsea kicked off at Stamford Bridge.

When Adam launched a 60-metre missile from inside his own half just before half-time to cancel out Eden Hazard’s penalty it could have provoked a few jitters but Chelsea held firm to claim three points after Loic Remy tapped in following a bad mistake from Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic.

They have 70 points from 30 games with Arsenal on 63 and Manchester United on 62, both having played a game more. Champions Manchester City can reduce the gap to six if they beat Crystal Palace on Monday, but the reality is that Chelsea need 16 points to win the title for the first time since 2010.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2015

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