Newcastle United’s finest wins against Sunderland.
Rivalries are the lifeblood of English football, and that is especially true for the North East. When it comes to matches against Sunderland, a victory for Newcastle United supporters is as sweet as it gets. However, there was a recent period where the wins only seemed to come for the Wearsiders.
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s header in the final minutes at St. James’ Park in 2016 earned a 1-1 draw in the Tyne-Wear derby, ending a run of six consecutive triumphs for Sunderland. Despite the change in fortunes lately for the two sides, it has been a statistic often repeated to Newcastle fans from their neighbours.
Quite a bit is different since that goal, and few could have imagined how the changes took place so quickly. The Toon bounced back from the Championship in one season, while the Black Cats have dropped to League One for 2018-19 following a disastrous showing under manager Chris Coleman.
"They'll never get over 6 in a row, they'll never know what it's like"
— Kev (@KetsbaiaMyLord) April 17, 2018
"I mean we did 5 in a row while qualifying for the champions league and uefa cup while you were going down as the worst PL team in history twice"
"..........we got to 6"#nufc pic.twitter.com/6a3paP0uWY
Although the clubs are heading in different directions, Sunderland fans tend to point towards those six results, and it seemed like a good number to focus on for another discussion.
The Tyne-Wear derby dates back to 1888, while tensions between the two areas go back centuries further. Remarkably after 155 competitive meetings, it is all even with both clubs at 53 wins to go with 49 draws. Within that span, there have been many incredible moments for the Toon Army.
With the number six as our inspiration, Newcastle Toons takes a look back at the six best victories for Newcastle United against Sunderland.