CRYSTAL PALACE 1 SUNDERLAND 3

By Ayodele Odumade at Selhurst Park

After shipping ten goals in their last two games, Sunderland managed to stem the bleeding as they beat Crystal Palace convincingly.  Gus Poyet’s most notable change was picking Costel Pantilimon in goal in place of Vito Mannone.

 The game could have been different, as Palace should have had a penalty in the opening minute when Santiago Vergini brought Fraizer Campbell down. However the referee ignored Palace’s penalty appeal. Once again Palace did not get the rub of the green.

Just after the half hour Patrick Van Aanholt put a delightful cross into the Palace box, which was met by a header from Stephen Fletcher that wrong footed Speroni and crept into the near post to give Sunderland the lead.  It was against the run of play, as Palace dominated possession up till then.

Minutes later Van Aanholt had to be replaced by Wes Brown due to an injury, as he appeared to pull Wilfred Zaha on the edge of the Sunderland box. The referee could also easily have awarded a penalty to Palace.

Six minutes before the break Fletcher nearly doubled Sunderland’s lead as he turned neatly outside the Palace box but his shot was saved by Speroni.

In added time of the first half, Will Buckly sent a cross in, which was met by a shot by Vergini, but it was saved by Speroni yet again.  Sunderland led at the break.

On the hour mark Yannick Bolasie took a short corner to Zaha who cut inside the box and dinked the ball to the back post. Campbell’s shot was saved by Pantilimon but when Zaha back heeled the rebound into the box, it ricochet Brown and went in to level the scores.  Palace deserved that bit of luck as they came out with intent and purpose in the second half.

Speroni had to make a smart save from Jordi Gomez. Zaha put a teasing cross into the Sunderland box but Pantilimon parried it to safety.

In the 79^th minute Will Buckley picked up the ball on the right hand side and played it to Jordi Gomez, who did not break his stride as he hit a sweet shot with his left foot, which nestled in the bottom left of Speroni’s goal to give Sunderland the lead for the second time in the game.

Palace’s woes were compounded just before full time when Skipper Mile Jedinak was shown a second yellow and red for a foul on Gomez.

In added time, second half substitute Jason Puncheon had his pocket picked by Liam Bridcutt, who passed the ball to Fletcher, who calmly slotted the ball past Speroni to put the result beyond doubt.

It was a fine win for Sunderland and the performance was much better than their kamikaze defending shown in their last two games. Gus Poyet will be a relieved man. It was also their first away win of the season.

As for Palace Neil Warnock must be thinking about what could have been. He is going to have to pick his team up quickly as their next two games are against Manchester United and Liverpool, either side of the next international break.  Warnock said: “ In the last couple of weeks we have had major decisions go against us. They should have been simple decisions. The Premier League is meant to be the best league in the world.”