[NoSkillz]

Sat. March 22, 2025

Barclays Premier League
Sunderland (11-7-12, 40 points, 11th) vs. Dover (21-5-4, 68 points, 2nd)
Stadium of Light, Sunderland, UK

Betting Odds: Sunderland: 3-1 Draw: 2-1 Dover: 4-5 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 7W 2D 5L

We won handily at home earlier this year against Sunderland 4-1 but they did grab a win and a draw against us last year so they aren’t a team to be taken lightly. That said, they are on a poor run of form at the moment, winless in four games and only one win in their last six. Their top scorer, American striker Jeremy Russell, is away early on international duty but fellow top striker Craig Flett is available, along with star midfielder Matt Barber. Former Dover defender Leo Creemers plays in a rotation and may face us today.

We’ll make a few changes from our Champions League win, with Chiquinho back in the lineup after serving his suspension and I’ll start young Manuel Lugo alongside him. Mads Pedersen is back in for the ineffective Arsene Bamba and Graham Allan draws the start on the right flank. Ingo Wilke draws the assignment in goal.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Rafinha, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - M. Pedersen, B. Raab, Jose, G. Allan
S - Chiquinho, M. Lugo
Bench - Emerson, S. Nasri, E. Harvey, N. Cairney, A. Bamba, G. Bolis, A. Broomes

Flat 4-4-2 for Sunderland and Flett is up front with Alexandre Deiana. Sam Cowler is in goal. For the fans today!

20’ - We’ve been dominating the highlights and putting enormous pressure on the Sunderland defence. We break through on a failed corner kick, as the ball is cleared out to Jose lurking outside the area and he pounds a shot through traffic into the top corner of the goal. Splendid! DOVER GOAL 1-0

25’ - We are sloppy in our midfield defence and lose possession. Their top striker Flett has the ball and sends a curling blast from 25 yards out that gets past Wilke and IN. Spectacular shot by Flett! SUNDERLAND GOAL 1-1

HALFTIME - They score on their only opportunity and despite dominating the game, we’re level at half. 53% of possession and an 18-5 (5-1 on target) shot advantage is in our favour. I tell the team they can win this game!

53’ - We win a corner and Raab’s cross is to the near post and 6’ 4” Manuel Lugo out jumps everyone and heads it home! That’s our big signing’s first league goal for Dover! DOVER GOAL 2-1

59’ - We have possession around midfield and Sunderland defender Jamie Holt whiffs on a tackle and that allows a clear breakaway for Chiquinho. His shot is past Cowler but hits the goalpost! Chiquinho wins the race to the rebound and pots it into the empty net for the insurance marker! DOVER GOAL 3-1

70’ - We pull out Jose and bring in Emmerson Harvey.

74’ - Rayane Hamon has a yellow so I pull him out and bring in Saber Nasri.

90’+3 - With time winding down, Benedikt Raab sends a low ROCKET at goal and Cowler does well to save it. No chance of him swallowing the rebound though and it pops right to Graham Allan on the doorstep and he simply taps it home. Nice! DOVER GOAL 4-1

Great second half!

Sunderland 1 - 4 Dover
Goals - Jose (7.9), Manuel Lugo (8.1), Chiquinho (7.8), Graham Allan (7.9)
Assists - Benedikt Raab 2 (9.0)
Man of the Match - Benedikt Raab
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.1), Rayane Hamon (7.1), Claudio Contreras (7.3), Rafinha (7.1), Mads Pedersen (7.2)
Attendance - 43,616

Excellent win - we held 54% of possession and a 27-6 (10-2 on target) shot advantage.

-- Late in the game, Claudio Contreras suffered a knock but was able to continue. Turns out he suffered a strained thigh and will miss about 10 days. DOVER INJURY: Claudio Contreras (Thigh Strain - 11 days)

-- In other Premier League action, Man U continues to pull away, winning 3-0 over Aston Villa. Blackpool shocked Newcastle 1-0 and Reading move into the top seven with a 5-1 win over Middlesbrough.

-- With the win, we have guaranteed a position in the Europa League at worst for next season.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 31 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Manchester United - 79 points
2. Dover - 72 points
3. Chelsea - 62 points (after 30 games)
4. Manchester City - 61 points (after 30 games)
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5. Arsenal - 51 points (after 30 games)
6. Newcastle - 49 points
7. Reading - 46 points
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Reserves Update

-- I guess we mathematically clinched our sixth consecutive Reserves League championship and our fans and board celebrate like it’s a Champions League title. So funny.

-- A couple days later, we beat up on Fulham’s reserves 6-1 despite us having a much less than full strength roster due to the international break. Manuel Lugo nets a hat trick and we get singles from Joshua Stokes, Sean Woolley and Neil Evans.

-- We suffer two injuries in the game. Stud U18 striker Alberto Velazquez will miss a couple weeks with a twisted knee while fellow U18 striker Neil Evans will miss 2-3 months with a torn hamstring.



Team of the Week

-- Benedikt Raab and in a pleasant surprise, Manuel Lugo are honoured by being named to the Premier League team of the week.



International Update

-- Gaining a youth cap is Felix Hernandez (France).

-- Gaining senior team caps are Arsene Bamba (Ivory Coast), Salim Loucif (Algeria), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (Morocco - one goal), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Zoltan Bardi (Hungary - one goal), Neil Cairney and Graham Allan (Scotland), Mwemere Mutesa (Rwanda), Lyubomir Kunchev (Bulgaria), Emmerson Harvey (England), Manuel Perez (Mexico) and Chiquinho (Belgium - two goals).

-- Yilmaz scored his first ever international goal in the Morocco game! Congrats to the youngster, who will be leaving our club at the end of the season.



Next Up

-- We are on the road once again and face Middlesbrough in Premier League play.