10 Times Newcastle United Totally Bottled It In The Big Game
8. NUFC 0-3 Sunderland
Competition: Premier League Season: 2013/14 For all the talk of retribution and Newcastle avenging the Tyne-Wear thumping dished out by Sunderland nine months earlier it was almost poetic that we were subjected to a repeat performance from this lamentable rabble of frigid cowards. It was painfully clear that any hope of payback duly evaporated once the Fabio Borini had rifled his penalty high into the net at the Leazes End. What followed was another harrowing afternoon where passion and pride was in short supply from the players in black and white shirts. This was in contrast to our North East neighbours who revelled in a second straight 3-0 victory at St James' Park and demonstrated a strong understanding of what this fixture meant to it's fans - our misery compounded by Geordie boy Jack Colback wheeling away in delight after smashing in Sunderland's third goal at the Gallowgate. We'd even go as far to say this defeat inflicted greater hurt than the last at St James' Park. The players were acutely aware of what we expected of them and failed to deliver for the second time. Pathetic.