Yorke scare as Sunderland end with draw.
By Paul Fraser
Just hours after confirming his first signing of the summer, Sunderland manager Roy Keane was then faced with a brief scare when Dwight Yorke suffered a head injury during a 1-1 draw with Vitoria de Setubal tonight.
Keane was delighted to have completed the signing of Finnish midfielder Teemu Tainio from Tottenham and Frenchman Pascal Chimbonda is also set to join tomorrow.
The £8m deal will arrive on the back of a pre-season trip to Portugal that should have done wonders for building up the players’ fitness ahead of the start of the Premier League on August 16.
But there was one worry at the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira. Yorke, less than 15 minutes after being introduced, had to be replaced by Anthony Stokes after coming off worse when he rose to try to head Sunderland ahead.
Keane will not have been impressed with the way his team started, falling behind to an easy volley from Moraes, who stood unmarked inside the box to meet a corner.
Nor was he amused by captain Dean Whitehead’s temper in the second half. Whitehead, a substitute, was replaced by Graham Kavanagh in fear that he was going to be sent off after already picking up a yellow card.
But he will be heartened by the way his team picked themselves up from a casual start to pull level on the stroke of half-time through Kieran Richardson.
With all the talk centred on who will be joining Sunderland in the coming hours, there was no place among the substitutes for one player who could be leaving soon.
Hungarian goalkeeper Marton Fulop sat with his team-mates but was not stripped throughout, fuelling the belief that there has been an improved offer from Stoke for his services.
And with Craig Gordon on the bench, that mean Darren Ward – who didn’t figure against Sporting Lisbon on Sunday night – was given the role between the posts.
But Ward was given little assistance inside the first two minutes, when Setubal striker Moraes was allowed the freedom of the six yard box to side foot the opener from a corner.
Almost immediately Michael Chopra, starting despite his sending off in the first match, had a chance to equalise but his downward header was well stopped on the line by goalkeeper Mlojevic.
But, backed by a vociferous Portuguese crowd in the small athletics Albufeira venue, Setubal were by far the better team in the opening exchanges.
And they were unlucky not to go further ahead just after the half hour mark, when substitute Bruno Gama struck against the Sunderland crossbar from distance.
Keane must have then been frustrated to see his defence cut open by a clever move, after a short free-kick, that ended with Ward having to deny goalscorer Moraes twice from close range.
But Setubal’s inability to make the most of their possession encouraged Sunderland to push forward.
And, after a couple of decent forays into their opponents’ half, Richardson was on hand to strike a left foot shot inside Mlojevic’s far post on the stroke of half-time.
Despite the sudden improvement in Sunderland, Keane still withdrew seven of the players. Only Ward, Russell Anderson, Danny Higginbotham and Grant Leadbitter stayed on for longer than the interval.
And Setubal settled quickest again, with Leandro Lima going close from 20 yards after being allowed time to create space for himself.
Yorke’s departure meant a quick reshuffle, with Stokes asked to play on the wing and Dean Whitehead afforded the holding role in front of the back four.
Sunderland were the better side for much of the second half and Phil Bardsley, allowed to run through, was denied when Mlojevic dived to his right. Daryl Murphy, though, was unmarked and screaming for a pass.
Murphy did have one chance towards the end, but he failed to hit the target from 18 yards and skewed his drive wide.
SUNDERLAND: Ward; Nosworthy (Reid 46), Anderson, Collins (Murphy 46), Higginbotham; O’Donovan (Edwards 46), Leadbitter, Kavanagh (Yorke 46, Stokes 59)), Richardson (Bardsley 46); Prica (Whitehead 46, Kavanagh 82)), Chopra (Wallace 46). Subs: Gordon.
