On This Day (3rd April 2010): Sunderland Beat Tottenham Hotspurs In A Classic Encounter

Sunderland's Boudewijn Zenden (centre) is congratulated by his team mates after scoring his sides third goal of the game (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images In terms of pure entertainment, this has to go down as one of the greatest games that has taken place in the Stadium of Light since its construction in the late nineties. This match had everything: three penalties, amazing goals, controversy and some questionable refereeing decisions on top of it all. Credit to both sides.

Both Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur brought a lot to the game and when you actually look at both the line-ups from this game, this was a classic “Barclays” clash. In the Sunderland side, we lined up with former Spurs player Darren Bent up top along with an up-and-coming Jordan Henderson and Craig Gordon in goal. Furthermore, Spurs had some heavy hitters in their side including Luka Modric, Kyle Walker, David Bentley and both Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch.

From minute one, this game was bonkers and this would certainly not be what Spurs’ manager would have wanted given his team were chasing a Champions League spot. In what was one of Sunderland’s first attacks of the game, another former Spur Fraizer Campbell swooped with a header to meet Kieran Richardson’s corner and although Heurelho Gomes kept out the point-blank header it fell perfectly for Bent, who had left London for Wearside the previous summer. This goal sparked pandemonium with both sets of fans who wanted to express viscerally their feelings about the goal towards Bent.

It must be said that Bent’s taunting in front of the away end was probably not the brightest move to make where pints of beer were used as missiles towards the Sunderland striker. If the away fans were unhappy by this stage, things only got worse for them when Bent made it two from the penalty spot. Despite early protestations for a foul on Jordan Henderson, minutes later a penalty was given after a cross brushed Kyle Walker’s arm midway through the half with the referee pointing to the spot for the first time, and Bent confidently beat Gomes low to his right.