10 Times Sunderland Defied All Footballing Logic

14/4/2006, Old Trafford. It looked just about as routine as is possible in the Premier League. It was crunch-time in the Premier League title race, and Manchester United were desperately chasing down Chelsea. Who stood in their way? A Sunderland side which was arguably the worst team the Premier League has ever witnessed. 

Anything but a win for The Black Cats would see them mathematically relegated from the Premier League with five rounds of fixtures still to play, and they had taken only 11 points from their 32 games so far.

Instead of being a complete walkover, the game became a cauldron of frustration for Manchester United. Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were arguably the poorest players on the pitch, and found themselves shut out by the defensive duo of Danny Collins and Gary Breen.

Chance after chance went by, and with Sunderland's travelling support cheering their every accomplished pass, the final whistle went to bring the end to a goalless encounter. Though the Wearsiders were relegated, they had also killed off any chance of United winning the title.

Sunderland went on to be relegated with 15 points that year - a total which has been undercut only once in Premier League history (Derby managed to get relegated with 11 points a couple of seasons later).