Sunderland sealed a 1-0 Premier League win over Bolton Wanderers at the Stadium of Light as John Mensah's injury gave Ahmed Elmohamady the chance to come off the bench on 22 minutes. Elmohamady was naturally deployed as a right-back. He fulfilled his defensive duties competently, having cleared the danger more than once. His clearance on 56 minutes was his most prominent effort in the game, after ending a Bolton attack with a bicycle kick. Elmo slightly supported the Black Cats' frontline on several occasions as well. He whipped in an accurate cross on 73 minutes but it found none of Sunderland's strikers in the area. The pacey wide man was expected to be included in the starting eleven against Bolton after Anton Ferdinand suffered a hamstring problem. However, the English defender, who was supposed to be out of action for several weeks, recovered from his injury much faster than expected to keep his starting berth, leaving Elmo on the sidelines again. In last weekend's Premiership goalless draw with Fulham, Ferdinand picked up the injury to prompt Sunderland coach Steve Bruce to send in Elmohamady only after ten minutes. Another injury in Saturday's match saw Elmohamady introduced instead of Mensah midway through the first period. It's the eighth consecutive Premiership game for the 23-year-old to be benched, although he remained a regular starter for a while after his arrival at Sunderland from ENPPI in the summer. Bruce once stated that he has been keeping Elmohamady on the bench to 'protect him a little', saying 'he'll have a big part to play' soon. Danny Welbeck netted Sunderland's winner against Bolton in the 32nd minute on the rebound, to take his scoring tally to five goals this season. Sunderland are now in sixth place with 27 points. The match's goal
