THEIR occupancy may be temporary and the celebrations premature, but Manchester City supporters, who are unfamiliar with heights so rarefied, were last night hailing their team as early leaders of the Barclays Premiership. Theirs is a club that specialises more readily in false dawns than in new dawns, but optimism, that most dangerous of footballing commodities, is growing.

Not since 1977 and the days of Dennis Tueart and Joe Royle have City nurtured an unbeaten run of 11 matches and although the sequence may be spread over two seasons, it cannot be denied that Stuart Pearce has made a dramatic impact as manager. Solid across the pitch and enjoying touches of inspiration, they were too fluid and dangerous for a Sunderland side whose travails continue.

Vertigo is yet to set in. “It would be easy for me to be flippant about it, but last season we came close to a European place and I’m not prepared to play it down,” Pearce said. “Now we’re where we are, we’ve got to play like a team who deserves it. That starts on Saturday (at home to Portsmouth). There’ll be a few teams above us in May, but we’ll enjoy it. We’ve got a long way to go before we’re where I want to be.”

That Pearce was dissatisfied with City’s performance — “It’s the first time I’ve come into the dressing-room after winning a game and the boys have been disappointed,” he said — is either reverse psychology or a measure of the standards now expected. “The one thing that’s pleasing is the spirit amongst the players,” Pearce said. “They looked me in the eye and told me they could do better. That ’s a good sign.”

Darius Vassell claimed his debut City goal since leaving Aston Villa for £2 million this summer, while Trevor Sinclair, whose career has been disrupted by injury, had not scored for almost a year. Both were assisted by sloppy defending; Sunderland mustered a consolation through Anthony Le Tallec, but lacked guile, quality and experience in midfield.

Nothing of note has changed for Sunderland since their previous, dispiriting appearance in the division two years ago, but the familiarity is not welcome to them. Their third defeat in succession, although not without the merit of commitment, energy and hard work, leaves them rooted to the foot of the table.

The statistics are skewed, as well as detested by Mick McCarthy, but the Sunderland manager has now presided over 12 consecutive losses in the Premiership, where their sequence without a victory stretches to 23 games.

Claudio Reyna — formerly of these parts and a reminder of wealthier times — prompted City’s opening, allowing the busy Joey Barton to find Vassell on the counter-attack. The sprightly England forward, whose £2 million summer acquisition from Aston Villa already looks cute, curled a fine shot around the clutches of Kelvin Davis and into the bottom right-hand corner.

As to be expected from a side constructed on passion, there was a response from Sunderland, but their resilience proved ordinary. Even when an exchange of passes between Vassell and Andrew Cole was frittered away, a clearance did not follow and Sinclair pounced from a distance of 16 yards.

The ground lapsed into grumbles, but the pessimism was dented in the 40th minute when James prodded a shot from Julio Arca around a post. From Whitehead’s corner, Le Tallec and Richard Dunne combined to score a headed goal. Spirits were lifted but City were content to absorb a degree of punishment in the realistic hope that an opportunity to jab back would present itself.

Sunderland’s glass jaw jutted out on each occasion City advanced and Cole might have extended the lead when he met a controlled cross from Sinclair with the side of his boot. Davis saved well and an equaliser almost came when Whitehead glanced a header marginally wide of the left post. “Nobody wants to hear it, because we played well, had chances and still got beat,” McCarthy said.

SUNDERLAND (4-3-1-2): K Davis — N Nosworthy, G Breen, A Stubbs, J Arca — D Whitehead, T Miller, A Welsh — A Le Tallec (sub: L Lawrence, 82min) — S Elliott, A Gray (sub: J Stead, 46). Substitutes not used: C Robinson, S Caldwell, J Murphy. Booking: Stead.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2): D James — D Mills, S Jordan (sub: Onuoha, 75), R Dunne, B Thatcher — T Sinclair, K Musampa (sub: Sun Jihai, 79), C Reyna, J Barton — A Cole, D Vassell. Substitutes not used: A Sibierski, G de Vlieger, B Wright-Phillips. Bookings: Cole, Mills.

Referee: P Walton.