Chris Maguire haunts the Stadium of Light in emphatic Lincoln City win

Lincoln City pulled off a shock result in League One with a convincing 3-1 win over 10-man Sunderland.

Ex-Wearsider Chris Maguire was both the hero and villain of the evening with a well-taken hat-trick to lift the Imps away from the relegation places.

Having had his differences with Black Cats manager Lee Johnson last season before joining Lincoln in the summer, the 32-year-old made his thoughts clear to all those inside the Stadium of Light that they were wrong to let him go.

Mixing his great technical ability with the darker arts of the game, it was a superb individual performance that will not be forgotten on Wearside for some time.

From the off, Maguire used every ounce of emotion to benefit his game and was shown a yellow card inside the first 10 minutes for an over-exuberant challenge on Carl Winchester in a clash that rumbled on throughout proceedings.

Having enjoyed good possession in the opening spell, Lincoln took the lead just after the half-hour mark.

As Hakeeb Adelakun saw his shot charged down, the ball dropped kindly to Maguire who thumped a right footed shot past Anthony Patterson from 20 yards.

Turning away from the crowd to celebrate, the forward instead opted to run towards Johnson on the touchline, offering him a few thoughts on the way past.

As Lincoln remained robust and frustrated Sunderland as the end of the half neared, Winchester took his opportunity to offer some payback to Maguire with a late challenge.

Seemingly in intense pain on the floor, to the derision of the crowd, Lincoln’s number 10 soon jumped to his feet and jogged off once referee Jeremy Simpson had shown Winchester a yellow card.

It was gamesmanship at its worst but Maguire was not in the mood for offering apologies. He was clearly revelling in the role of a pantomime villain.

Things got worse for Sunderland after the break as they failed to generate any real momentum on the Lincoln goal. Looking dangerous on the break, Maguire broke into the box following a pass from Morgan Whittaker.

Following hesitation from the home defence, the Scotsman latched onto the loose ball, and as he shaped to shoot, Winchester’s last ditch challenge gave referee Simpson no other alternative other than to award a spot kick and show the Black Cats midfielder a red card for a professional foul.

Maguire smashed home the penalty in emphatic fashion and gave Patterson no chance in saving the effort. With his arms held out in apology, it still proved futile and angered the crowd after his second goal of the night.

Sunderland buoyed on by a frustrated crowd seeking retribution for their ex-forward’s antics, they were offered a lifeline when Alex Pritchard was upended by Max Sanders for a penalty kick.

Ross Stewart got luck with the penalty as his left-footed strike was well saved by Josh Griffiths but he reacted quickest to prod home the rebound.

With the roof momentarily coming off due to the decibels inside, the Black Cats were almost instantly denied an equaliser as Regan Poole heroicly cleared Stewart’s header off the line.

With the hosts enjoying the momentum, it was time for Maguire to turn pantomime villain once more. After letting the ball slip under his boot on the far touchline, the forward was greeted with abuse from the baying crowd.

However, as Adelakun broke free into space inside his own half, he slipped Maguire clean through on goal, and as the 32-year-old drew Patterson out of his goal, he sublimely finished into the roof of the net to draw even more ill-treatment from the emptying home stands.

As if the night could not have gone any better for Maguire, Lee Johnson fell into his beautifully spun web to claim his final victim.

Following a dreadful challenge on the touchline from Callum Doyle on Lewis Fiorini, a melee broke loose, including players and officials from both teams. Sunderland manager Lee Johnson was ultimately sent to the stands following his involvement in the incident, something he reflected on in his post-match press conference.

“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. It’s unfortunate, and we’ve lost the opportunity to get three really important points.

“Certain elements of the game did go against us, but at the same time you have to give Lincoln a lot of credit for their gameplan and executing it well, particularly that first goal which changed a lot.

“I don’t want to make excuses.”

The red card compounded a thoroughly humiliating evening for Johnson whilst Maguire could only have looked on in glee to complete a memorable outing.

Proudly holding the match ball at full-time, Maguire quickly played down any malice towards the home support.

“I can’t tell you what I said but I think I did my talking on the pitch. It was just a bit of tongue-in-cheek for my last six months here. It ended badly for me.

“I hope the Sunderland fans are okay with me. I was getting booed but I’ve got nothing but admiration and respect for them.”

With Lincoln recording their second win on the bounce following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Oxford United, the Imps picked up where they left off with a combination of grit and guile which has left them floundering for the majority of the season.

Looking more fluid in attack, it appears Lincoln boss Michael Appleton has found the missing ingredient in Morgan Whittaker which has reignited the likes of Maguire and Fiorini around him.

“This are our first back-to-back wins of the season and that has taken too long to come, but for us to do it against two very good, but different sides, isn’t bad for little old Lincoln.

“For us to deal with the spell they had after the penalty and come through it, we’ve got to be happy. I’ve seen teams come here and get blown away by being too passive. I thought the only way we could come here and win the game is by being really competitive, which we were.”

Now five points away from the drop zone, the platform laid over the past week should inject new life into Lincoln’s season. Taking a game at a time, and with plenty of football still to be played, Appleton will know his side possess the quality to climb further up the table.

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