The relegation battle took another turn today as both Bolton and Wolves got impressive wins.
Wolves went to the Stadium of Light and beat Sunderland 3-1, a win that lifts them into 16th place, on 40 points.
Sunderland, who were playing without a recognised striker on the pitch, fell behind when former Sunderland player Jody Craddock volleyed home Stephen Hunt’s deep cross eluded. Sunderland did get back on level terms before half-time through Stephane Sessegnon.
But the introduction of Matt Jarvis at half-time changed the game as his cross for Steven Fletcher to nod home put Wolves 2-1 up. They then sealed all three points when George Elokobi thundered home a header with 20 minutes left.
The game of the day was at Bloomfield Road where Blackpool remain in 18th place despite a dramatic 4-3 victory over Bolton. Blackpool started the game well, but it was Bolton who took the lead through Kevin Davies after six minutes. But DJ Campbell restored parity two minutes later, latching onto Gary Taylor-Fletcher’s flick before calmly lofting the ball over Jussi Jaaskelainen.
And, as has been the case so often at Bloomfield Road this season, the goals kept flowing: on 19 minutes, Jason Puncheon nudged the hosts in front by slipping a fine left-footed drive into the corner from the edge of the box. Although Bolton had lost ten of their last 11 away league games heading into this one, they didn’t crumble – and Matthew Taylor made it 2-2 with less than half of the opening period gone.
Campbell edged the Tangerines closer to only their third win of 2011 by netting on the stroke of half-time, sliding in to meet Charlie Adam’s driven cross. With the second period not yet ten minutes old, on-loan striker Daniel Sturridge claimed his eighth goal in 11 matches for Bolton, nodding in from close range after fine work from Davies.
Blackpool’s never-say-die attitude was again in evidence as they reclaimed the lead through skipper Adam, who looks set to leave the club in the summer, on 63 minutes. The Scotland international played a one-two with Taylor-Fletcher before unleashing a howitzer from 15 yards that earned Blackpool a vital three points – taking them to 39 overall – ahead of their trip to Old Trafford on the final day.
A goal from Youssouf Mulumbu earned West Bromwich Albion a 1-0 home win over Everton, who had Diniyar Bilyaletdinov sent off for a dangerous tackle on James Morrison.
