Chopra double wins derby

Michael Chopra put his personal problems behind him to fire Sunderland to a 2-0 derby victory over Middlesbrough.

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David Wheater upends Steed Malbranque at the Stadium of Light.

The former Newcastle striker came off the bench to slot home an 81st-minute shot, and then added a second in injury time to seal the win.

• Keane hails Chopra

England winger Stewart Downing had fired a 75th-minute penalty over the bar to let the Wearsiders off the hook.

The midfielder, who thumped his last spot-kick against the bar, blasted over to give Sunderland the impetus to go on and win the spoils in front of a crowd of 38,388.

Southgate and Keane launched their managerial careers at around the same time a little more than two years ago, and both would admit to having embarked upon a steep learning curve.

But both are now starting to see progress as they attempt to build teams in their own, very different, images.

However, it was the Englishman who would have been the happier at the break having seen his side limit their hosts to a series of long-range efforts which never really troubled keeper Ross Turnbull, while at the same time forcing Craig Gordon to make two excellent saves.

Boro controlled much of the first half because they were able to dictate the pace in the middle of the park through Gary O'Neil and the excellent Didier Digard.

Indeed, it was not until Steed Malbranque started to come inside and pull the strings that the Wearsiders made an impression.

Southgate's men were even able to survive the loss of striker Mido to a groin injury in the warm-up as record signing Afonso Alves, originally reduced to the rank of substitute, was handed a late reprieve.

They would have taken the lead with 19 minutes gone had Gordon not reacted to smartly to Downing's snapshot after Alves' free-kick had been blocked into his path.

The England international had been asked to support the Brazilian in attack with Adam Johnson filling in on the left side of midfield, and the youngster's pace proved a big weapon as the visitors repeatedly hit Sunderland on the counter-attack.

It was he who carved Keane's defence, featuring Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney at the Stadium of Light for the first time, wide-open eight minutes before half-time as Boro launched a raid from the edge of their own penalty area.

Johnson picked out Alves' intelligent run across the Wearside rearguard with the perfect pass, but the striker's first-time shot was well blocked by the advancing Gordon.

For their part, Sunderland started to threaten on a more consistent basis as the half wore on with Malbranque and Cisse combining well, but the former Liverpool striker's shooting was wayward in the face of some resilient defence.

Huth had to get in a last-ditch challenge on Chopra, a late first-half replacement for the injured Teemu Tainio, as he tried to reach Pascal Chimbonda's near-post cross.

However, Gordon was in action again after 53 minutes when he had to dive low to his left to turn away Alves' drive.

Kieran Richardson fired high over two minutes later after Chopra had laid off Malbranque's pull-back with the Wearsiders looking far sharper.

They might have taken the lead with 62 minutes gone after Turnbull's inexperience almost cost his side.

Having collected the ball safely, he then dropped it at El-Hadji Diouf's feet as he prepared to launch another attack.

The Senegal international picked out Cisse, but his curling effort was blocked by Emanuel Pogatetz as he and Huth launched themselves into its path.

But Turnbull came to his side's rescue nine minutes later when he dived to his right to claw away Richardson's curling effort with the Black Cats making their big push.

Both managers made double changes as the game entered its final quarter, but it was Southgate on his feet 15 minutes from time when his side were awarded a penalty.

Nyron Nosworthy clipped Jeremie Aliadiere's heels inside the box and referee Howard Webb had little hesitation in pointing to the spot.

But Downing's effort sailed over the bar to set up a tense conclusion.

Just how costly that miss was became evident with 81 minutes gone when Chopra and Richardson exchanged passes on the edge of the box for the striker to run in and slide the ball past Turnbull.

The former Newcastle frontman was booked for his celebration, but his fortunes improved at the death when Malbranque presented him with the simplest of chances to double his tally.