Newcastle United 1-2 Sunderland: Anthony Gordon claims Black Cats inferior to Magpies despite successive derby defeats

Anthony Gordon has suggested that he thinks that North-East rivals Sunderland are inferior to Newcastle United.

That is despite the Magpies succumbing to a second successive Premier League defeat to the Black Cats, most recently on Sunday as Sunderland overturned a half-time deficit to win 2-1 at St James' Park.

As a result, Newcastle have now gone 11 games without a victory against Sunderland in league fixtures, the longest such run in their history.

Meanwhile, Sunderland also hold a one-point lead over Newcastle in the Premier League table, the teams sitting 11th and 12th place respectively.

Nevertheless, speaking to the club's official website, Gordon has hinted that he and his teammates should be embarrassed at losing the Tyne-Wear derby.

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Gordon admits derby-day frustration

Gordon, who opened the scoring in Sunday's match, has claimed that Sunderland are "not a very good team" compared to Newcastle.

He said: "The frustrating thing is, in my opinion, they're not a very good team compared to us. We shouldn't lose to them."

"Away is obviously more difficult because they have the fans, the atmosphere and a bit more pressure, but at home we should not lose that game.

"Not with the first half that we had, but again we haven't been good enough starting second halves and it's an ongoing problem."

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Poorly-timed comments from Gordon

Not only are Sunderland ahead of Newcastle in the Premier League table, they have conceded nine goals fewer (36 to 45) than their fierce rivals.

Such was the capitulation on Sunday that Eddie Howe is coming under pressure in the dugout, there now being constant talk as to whether he is the right man to try to keep the club among the Premier League elite.

Gordon was justified in his defence over comments made regarding his availability for the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie with Barcelona, but he should have refrained from airing his thoughts to the club's media team on this occasion.

Since his four-goal haul against Qarabag FK, the 25-year-old has netted just three goals in nine appearances.