Sunderland 2 FC Stade Nyonnais 0: David Moyes enjoys perfect start as Duncan Watmore is at the double

A DAY after the team’s terror flight, David Moyes’ first game in charge of Sunderland was plane sailing.

The Black Cats squad feared for their lives on Sunday, when one of the engines on their jet to Geneva failed and they had to make an emergency landing.

Tonight, though, there was no such drama as Sunderland soared past Swiss third-tier outfit FC Stade Nyonnais.

In a town most famous for its bottled water, an inexperienced Black Cats side flowed early on in their first match under Moyes.

And Duncan Watmore’s two first-half penalties were enough to earn a 2-0 win in front of around just 500 people in Evian.

This was certainly a much more low-key affair than Moyes’ first game at his last English club three years ago.

Then, Manchester United lost 1-0 to a Singha All-Star XI in front of 50,000 in a bustling Bangok.
Things hardly picked up for Moyes at Old Trafford and he was sacked just nine months later.

So the Scot will have been pleased to get off to a winning start at Sunderland on the day his predecessor, Sam Allardyce, was unveiled by England 800 miles away at St George’s Park.

This match took place at the tiny Stade Camille-Fournier, where Germany trained during the recent Euros.

A sunglasses-clad Moyes strolled up to the ground from the team’s nearby five-star hotel, which hosted the 2003 G8 summit.

And he was in deep conversation about transfer business on the phone, as fans waited for his call to end so they could get selfies with their new boss.

Moyes spent time greeting the supporters who had made the trip out to this picturesque spa town on the shores of Lake Geneva.

He then held an impromptu meeting with the backroom staff that he has inherited from Big Sam, many of which still don’t know about their futures.

And it was then down to business, as Moyes took to a dugout for the first time since his axe from Real Sociedad in November.

In contrast to his opposite Nyonnais number, the Black Cats chief stayed seated until more than an hour into the game, taking something of a watching brief rather than barking out orders.

Interestingly, midfielder Jack Rodwell, whose career began under Moyes at Everton, started as a centre-half – the position he played as a Toffees kid.

Whizkid Watmore, though, was the match-winner, making and scoring a penalty after 37 minutes, before converting again from the spot on the stroke of half-time after George Honeyman was felled.

Sunderland play again here on Wednesday night against French Ligue 1 side Dijon FCO.

Yet Moyes will be just as bothered about business off the pitch, as the Black Cats are still to make a summer signing.

New chief executive Martin Bain was in the stands tonight having earlier admitted the club must start to “move forward” in the transfer market.

And Moyes will no doubt concur, otherwise Sunderland risk being left behind on the runway when their Premier League campaign kicks off at Manchester City in just 19 days’ time.