Stoke City surrender to Sunderland

Sunderland finally secured their first Premier League win of the season with an impressive 4-0 demolition of Stoke City at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.

Steve Bruce's side had scored only twice in their previous five matches but they surged into a three-goal lead inside half an hour thanks to Titus Bramble's first goal for the club, a Jonathan Woodgate own goal and Craig Gardner's deflected strike.

Sebastian Larsson's second-half free-kick sealed the win as Stoke were beaten for the first time in 10 games in all competitions.

Sunderland's rampant display was enough to lift Bruce's team out of the relegation zone after two draws and two defeats in their first four matches.

They took the lead in the fifth minute. Rory Delap could not cut out Larsson's corner at the near post and when the ball fell to Bramble, his low shot squirmed away from keeper Asmir Begovic and trickled over the line.

Things got even better within six minutes when Woodgate, in his desperation to beat Nicklas Bendtner to David Vaughan's curling cross, could only head the ball over the stranded Begovic and into his own net.

A Stoke side featuring eight changes to the one that drew 1-1 at Dynamo Kiev in the Europa League in mid-week looked strangely toothless, although Simon Mignolet had to pull off a fine one-handed save to claw Marc Wilson's 16th-minute free-kick away from his top corner.

But their hopes of launching a comeback were dealt a further blow with 28 minutes gone when Gardner collected Bendtner's pass and saw his shot loop up off Ryan Shawcross and sail over the stranded Begovic into the top corner.

Stoke striker Peter Crouch, who was jeered throughout by the home fans after rejecting Sunderland's advances for the second time last month, headed straight at Mignolet three minutes before the break.

And the game was effectively over in the 58th minute as Larsson beat Begovic with a superb free-kick.

Crouch was guilty of a glaring miss at the other end four minutes later when he could not get a touch with the goal at his mercy, much to the amusement of the home fans.