Charlie Wyke heads Sunderland closer to automatic promotion with sublime cameo against Pompey

Charlie Wyke extended on his extraordinary goal scoring form on Tuesday night as Sunderland turned over Portsmouth 2-0 at Fratton Park.

Wyke and wide-man Jordan Jones capitalised on two Pompey defensive errors to continue Sunderland’s sublime record away from home. The Black Cats have collected 31 points on the road and have lost just once away from the Stadium of Light this season.

Lee Johnson’s men warned Portsmouth of their game plan after just three minutes. The ball was worked out wide to Jones for the right midfielder to cross the ball in-between the penalty spot and six yard box for Wyke to attack. Nothing came of it, but it was a statement of intent from the visitors early on in the encounter.

On the 13th minute mark, the inevitable happened. Jones delivered a mouthwatering in-swinging corner which was begging to be attacked. Wyke, the biggest aerial threat on the pitch, was allowed a free header to power the ball back across Craig MacGillivray.

Albeit shocking defending from Sean Raggett, Wyke’s predatory movement was too hot to handle, losing his marker to bag his 26th goal in all competitions this season.

Wyke’s 24th goal involvement in 31 league matches bolstered his expected goals per 90 to 0.81. To put this into perspective, Wyke’s xG per match is higher than the likes of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane (0.61) and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (0.68).

Mentioned prior to the game, Wyke was bound to capitalise on Portsmouth’s vulnerability from set plays. Pompey conceded two goals from set-pieces in their 4-1 loss against Northampton prior to the midweek match therefore it made sense to emphasise crossing from wide areas at any given opportunity.

After his opener, Wyke occupied Raggett for the rest of the night and bullied the defender. Sunderland’s talisman was too strong for Raggett, regardless of the centre-half going touch tight.

After Jones doubled the scoring for the visitors, Wyke was a matter of centimetres away from prodding home a third. After 76 minutes, Aiden McGeady and Callum McFadzean linked up down the left hand-side before the Sunderland left-back drilled a low ball in towards the front post. It looked destined for Wyke to secure a brace, but somehow MacGillivray managed to gather the ball from beneath him.

As a result of his outstanding efforts, Wyke has been nominated for the League One Player of the Month award for February. It’s his second nomination for the award in consecutive months after firing six goals in six league games in February.

The Black Cats will be hoping that Wyke’s goals can help the Black Cats win promotion to the Championship, a division which the Striker can be more than capable of playing in.

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