Darren Bent hit a hat trick Tuesday to give Sunderland a 4-0 win
over Bolton and its first Premier League victory since November.
Sunderland had slipped into danger of relegation after 14
matches without a win but went ahead after 44 seconds through
Fraizer Campbell and sealed the victory with Bent's three
second-half goals.
The win hoisted Sunderland to 13th place and six points above
the three-team relegation zone. The Black Cats are 11 points ahead
of last-place Portsmouth, which lost 2-1 to visiting Birmingham in
Tuesday's other match.
Campbell scored from Lorik Cana's early cross but it was his
fellow former Tottenham striker who did most to earn a crucial
victory.
Bent made it 2-0 in the 64th minute when he outpaced defender
Sam Ricketts and shot past goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, and
stretched the advantage 10 minutes later by winning and converting
a penalty.
Ricketts, who had already been booked for a first-half foul
on striker Kenwyne Jones, was sent off for pushing over Bent and
the England international beat Jaaskelainen with his kick.
He then completed his first hat trick for Sunderland and took
his season tally to 19 with a finish from Campbell's 88th-minute
cross.
Portsmouth beat Birmingham at the weekend to reach the FA Cup
semifinals but trailed 2-0 to the same team before halftime on
Tuesday.
Portsmouth started with a three-man attack of Frederic
Piquionne, Aruna Dindane and Danny Webber but Cameron Jerome and
Christian Benitez combined twice for Birmingham.
Jerome scored with a low shot from Benitez's 16th-minute pass
and then collected a back-heeled pass from the same player to score
with a shot under diving goalkeeper David James.
Nwankwo Kanu finally got a goal back for the home side in the
last minute, heading in Jamie O'Hara's right-wing cross.
