Tim Krul (7.5) - Did not have that much to do but handled the crosses well and guessed right for the penalty. Can't ask for more.Danny Simpson (7) - Won a few good challenges and seemed up for it. Cannot really fault his defending although he did not do much in an attacking sense.
Mike Williamson (6) - Had a decent match but it was his one moment of stupidity that cost us getting all the points. Why tug his shirt? Only he'll know but otherwise he defended quite well actually.
Fabricio Coloccini (7.5) - Also won some challenges and intercepted a few important passes. Our best defender on the day.
Davide Santon (7) - I thought he had a good first half so it came as a surprise to see him taken off at half time. I suppose Pardew wanted Ryan Taylor on the field for his set pieces so Santon had to be sacrificed. Santon took on players and was always willing to go forward and hardly did anything wrong from a defensive point of view.
Ryan Taylor (6) - Thought he did very little in an attacking sense and should have been the one whom Ben Arfa replaced. With Cabaye in the team, we had an able replacement for the set pieces. Overall his set pieces were not bad, in fact he put in a terrific corner from which Ba hit the crossbar.
Yohan Cabaye (6.5) - Was not on the ball as much as I hoped, which resulted in us being poor in the first half but he had a better second half. Provided the cross for our goal and put in a few other notable crosses as well.
Cheik Tiote (6) - Do not think he controlled the middle of the park and that cost us a bit. He put himself about but seemed to get involved with too many off the ball incidents instead of doing what he does best.
Jonas Gutierrez (7.5) - One of our few bright sparks in the first half and he had a good second half as well. Always linked up well with the left back, whether it was Santon or Taylor.
Papiss Cisse (5) - I thought he was fairly anonymous for much of his time on the field. That may not be his fault for we weren't creating that many chances at that stage. He'll have better days I'm sure.
Demba Ba (7) - Missed the penalty, which happens to the best sometimes, so we cannot blame him for that. It was just not his day in the end as he hit the crossbar with a superb header as well. He looked dangerous in the second half which was good to see for his first half was slightly below par.
Substitutes
Hatem Ben Arfa (8.5) - Really changed the game when he came on. We looked more dangerous, he was beating men with ease and he looked a real threat. Yes he lost the ball a few times as well but he lifted the crowd, caused Sunderland problems and that's what we needed.
Shola Ameobi (9) - Won us the penalty and scored the crucial goal. Can't ask more from a substitute in a derby match.
Peter Lovenkrands (N/A) - Was not on long enough to do anything note worthy.
Newcastle United Man of the Match - Shola Ameobi
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