After finishing in their highest ever league position of third place and qualifying for the Champions League, Chelsea began the following season by thrashing Sunderland at Stamford Bridge in a fixture that included Gus Poyet, now Black Cats' manager, netting a memorable mid-air volley to cap off a 4-0 triumph.
That result laid the foundations for Chelsea, under the stewardship of Gianluca Vialli, to put together six wins from their opening eight Premier League games as they looked to mount a challenge for the title, but their form throughout October and November left a lot to be desired and when they arrived at the Stadium of Light on this day in 1999 the Blues were under pressure to perform against a Sunderland side who were making their own impression in the top flight.
After earning promotion from Division One, the heavy defeat in West London could have caused belief to be lost within Peter Reid's squad but that setback sparked a remarkable improvement that saw them record 10 victories and just two defeats in 15 contests, and when Chelsea arrived in the North-East for the reverse encounter between the two sides, the hosts weren't in the mood to let go of a record that had seen them fail to score just three times during the opening four months of the season.
It took just 45 seconds for Sunderland to not only open the scoring against Vialli's team, but to open the floodgates too. The Blues defence seemed to part perfectly for Eric Roy to stride into the penalty area before pulling the ball back for Niall Quinn, who swept home his sixth of the season.
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That goal failed to discourage Chelsea, who created three openings that were all wasted by Tore Andre Flo, Gianfranco Zola and Poyet, but midway through the half, the Blues were rocked with a goal that would ultimately be remembered as one of the best of the season.
There appeared to be little danger when the ball bounced into the path of Kevin Phillips around 30 yards from goal, but with the confidence of a man who had already netted 15 times during his first top-flight campaign, the in-form striker powered an unstoppable volley into the top corner, leaving Ed de Goey grasping at thin air.
The second led to a defence, being marshalled by Marcel Desailly, being torn to shreds by a Sunderland team who weren't content with the scoreline that they had opened up. Bernard Lambourde had to clear off the line to prevent number three but it was only delaying the inevitable as Sunderland sewed up the game with two more goals in the space of three minutes.
Quinn, who was at the heart of many of Sunderland's attacks, was given the time and space to try to arrow a volley over the head of De Goey, and although the Dutch stopper flung himself through the air to claw the shot out, the ball fell to Phillips who had the simple task of tapping home from inside the six-yard box.
There were still seven minutes remaining until half time, but in what was turning into a fairytale afternoon for Sunderland, they scored their fourth through the magnificent Quinn, who used his left foot to volley through a ruck of players to find the bottom corner with precision.
The half-time whistle was greeted by a standing ovation from the home supporters, who had been treated to something deemed unthinkable during their final days at Roker Park, but Chelsea were in disarray and Vialli sent a statement out to the rest of his squad by hauling off Desailly at the break.
During the second half, skipper Dennis Wise was another to be substituted by his embarrassed manager with Robert Wooleaston being handed a first game in a Chelsea shirt, but even though the change resulted in Chelsea grabbing a late goal through Poyet, the strike was merely a consolation as Sunderland wrapped up a convincing victory in front of their home fans.
The defeat for Chelsea led to many questions being asked of Vialli and another Premier League defeat, this time at the hands of Leeds United, looked to have put the Italian on the brink of the sack. However, he turned the club's fortunes around, going 16 games unbeaten before finally finishing the season in fifth position.
As for Sunderland, the success over the Blues proved to be the highlight of a season that dropped off after the New Year. Reid's side won just six of their remaining 21 fixtures but it was still enough for them to finish in seventh place in the table, while Phillips ended the year as the league's top goalscorer with 30 strikes.
