Sunderland are expected to be amongst the front runners for automatic promotion and another fine win this afternoon has confirmed their fans confidence.
They hosted AFC Wimbledon at the Stadium of Light, with Chris Maguire giving them an early lead. Kwesi Appiah levelled for the visitors, but Maguire was on hand to bag a double and sink the plucky Wombles.
It was a fine hat trick from a player right in form. Maguire might not have cost as much as Grigg or Wyke, he might not have been a £1m man last season like Marc McNulty, but he looked to be as dangerous as all three on a great afternoon of football.
The 30-year-old looked to take some of the creative pressure off Aiden McGeady and will have given Black Cats’ fans plenty to be positive about. They’re level with five teams all on 11 points at the top of the table and are living up to their early hype.
Maguire became the first Sunderland player to serve up a hat trick for the passionate supporters in nine years. These fans certainly feel Maguire is a real hero on Wearside, singing his praises on social media.
https://twitter.com/AHT_MrP/status/1165305304076226560
Good result for #safc. Should have won by more. Brilliant for Maguire to score a hat-trick and thought Wyke was very good again. Dominant performance especially in the second half. Well done, lads 👊 #SAFC
— PeterJWhalen (@PeterJWhalen7) August 24, 2019
Absolute stormer from Wyke and Maguire up tops today, followed by Willis and Ozturk at the back. Solid performance. 🔴⚪️⚽️#safc #KTF
— Gus (@gus261989) August 24, 2019
Maguire the obvious MoM but thought Wyke lead the line well again. He should have scored though, as Grigg should have. Thought Humes performance was a massive improvement too #SAFC
— Scott (@76skelly) August 24, 2019
A very positive, attack-minded performance, some excellent individual performances, a Maguire hat-trick, and a great result to complete the picture. With the new investment incoming, the whole situation looks a lot better than it did post-Oxford! #SAFC 🔴⚪️
— Philip West (@Philip_RJ89) August 24, 2019
Excellent from King Maguire and some good performances from the centre backs and Charlie, but we have to better with the final ball and taking chances. They were the worst side I've seen at the SoL, should've been 5 or 6 comfortably #SAFC
— JL (@JLambert55) August 24, 2019
Maguire will get all the plaudits…but overall that was superb. Leadbitter (again) controlled the game, Charlie Wyke bullied them all afternoon. Excellent! #safc
— Ian Price (@ianprice123) August 24, 2019
Chris Maguire the 1st player to score a hat trick for SAFC at the SOL since Darren Bent over 9 years ago, probably deserves a song just for this. First complete performance of the season from the team #SAFC
— Jamie Joslyn (@JamieJoslyn1) August 24, 2019
