Adam Johnson: Newcastle must hate me after scoring late winner
Adam Johnson admits he must be the most hated man in Newcastle after his late goal condemned Alan Pardew's side to a fourth successive derby defeat for the first time in their history against Sunderland.
The Sunderland winger, who scored in the two previous 3-0 wins over the Magpies at St. James' Park, struck in the 90th minute to settle a rip-roaring encounter which might have gone either way until his intervention. It was no more than Gus Poyet's men deserved after creating the better chances on an afternoon when they collected just their third Barclays Premier League win of the season.
"Three years in a row - they must hate me here, but I'm delighted," Johnson told Sky Sports 1. "Three wins here and three clean sheets. We can't ask for much more. I was a bit disappointed as I should have scored earlier on so if I had missed that one I would have been gutted tonight. I took my time and set myself and thankfully it went in."
Johnson revealed that despite the huge Tyne-Wear rivalry, St. James' Park is one of his favorite grounds.
"It's a personal favorite of mine to be honest. It's a great ground, great atmosphere and we all seem to rise to the occasion here," the 27-year-old said. "(The win) is massive for us. It gives us a great boost and it's been coming in recent weeks and we did well but today was the end of some hard work."
Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson praised Johnson and is hopeful the victory will help to ignite the Black Cats' season.
"I think we've created enough to win games but couldn't find the back of the net. But all credit to Johnno," the Sweden international said. "There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to tuck that away. We deserved the win. That's the best way to win games, especially derby games away from home. We needed a win. Hopefully that will kick our season off and we'll push forward."
The visitors were dealt a blow before kick-off when left-back Anthony Reveillere picked up a calf injury during the warm-up and was replaced by Sebastian Coates.
