home Charles N'Zogbia's cross at the far post". In a Tyne–Wear derby against Sunderland on 17 April 2006, Chopra scored his only Premier League goal and the fastest by a substitute – finding the net after coming on fifteen seconds earlier. Later in that season Chopra injured his knee ligaments, which he claimed to be the "worst injury" he ever had. Cardiff City After becoming frustrated at his failure to make an impact at Newcastle, Chopra signed for Cardiff City in June 2006 for £500,000. On his decision to leave Newcastle, Chopra stated that he had shown loyalty to the club and expressed his desire to receive the same loyalty from the club. He also added that he would love to return to Newcastle in the future. During the season, Chopra scored 22 goals in 44 matches. He helped the club remain top of the Championship throughout September, earning the Championship Player of the month for September. He was also featured in the PFA Team of the season (an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football). Sunderland In July 2007, newly promoted Premier League side Sunderland agreed a deal worth up to £5 million, activating a release clause, to sign Chopra on a four-year contract. His Geordie roots and high price-tag caused unrest among some Sunderland fans. He scored on his debut for the "Black Cats" on the opening day of the 2007–08 season at the Stadium of Light, coming on as a substitute late in the second half and scored the winning goal against Tottenham Hotspur in injury time. He scored in the next game at Birmingham City, but then went 15 games without scoring before he converted a penalty at Reading on 23 December. He went on to score the only goal of a 1–0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park, before he scored his sixth and final goal of the season in Sunderland's 3–2 win over Tees–Wear derby rivals Middlesbrough, finishing as the second highest scorer at the club, being just one goal behind Kenwyne Jones. After missing the initial matches for "personal problems", he scored two goals in his second game of the 2008–09 season as Sunderland beat Middlesbrough 2–0 on 20 September. With the arrivals of Djibril Cissé and El-Hadji Diouf, Chopra found his playing time to be limited. So he rejoined Cardiff City