EAGLES WINGS CLIPPED BY SUNDERLAND CRYSTAL PALACE 0 SUNDERLAND 1 BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK Sunderland came to London and beat Crystal Palace to earn their first away win of a turbulent season. This could be the start of their quest to stay in the Premiership as they also managed to
EAGLES WINGS CLIPPED BY SUNDERLAND
CRYSTAL PALACE 0 SUNDERLAND 1
BY AYODELE ODUMADE AT SELHURST PARK
Sunderland came to London and beat Crystal Palace to earn their first away win of a turbulent season. This could be the start of their quest to stay in the Premiership as they also managed to keep a clean sheet. Palace missed the opportunity to move into sixth position as their home sickness continued.
With Sunderland shipping goals for fun they played a 5-3-2 formation and surprisingly the first chance of the game fell to them when Jermaine Defoe nodded the ball down to his strike partner Steven Fletcher, who scoffed his shot wide.
Palace duly responded with three corners in quick succession but without any end product. Yann M’Villa won the ball in his half and charged forward, 40 yards before releasing Defoe, who saw his shot go wide.
Just before the quarter of an hour mark, Pape Souare won the ball in his half and passed it to Yannick Bolasie who went past two Sunderland players including Billy Jones, before unleashing a shot, which was easily gathered by Costel Pantilimon.
In the 30th minute, James McArthur picked up the ball inside the Sunderland half and drove for goal, he hit a shot but it was straight at Pantilimon. Four minutes later, Palace nearly took the lead. The ball was crossed into the Sunderland area and John O’Shea headed it straight to Bolasie who hit a shot across goal to Wilfred Zaha but he was adjudged to be offside.
Before the break, Zaha got down the right wing and left Patrick Van Aanholt in a knot. He then crossed the ball to Bolasie, who nodded it back to Yohan Cabaye, but his shot was wide. The game remained goalless at the break.
At the beginning of the second half, Bakary Sako replaced Jason Puncheon. Sebastian Larson whipped in a corner, which was headed goal wards by Sebastian Coates, but it was cleared off the line by Cabaye. Cabaye then went down the other end, hit a shot, which was spilled by Pantilimon but cleared by his Van Aanholt.
Just after the hour mark, after some ping-pong football, the ball fell to Sako, who curled his shot but it was just wide of the post. At this stage, Palace were now camped inside the Sunderland half looking for the breakthrough.
Bolasie tried his luck from 40 yards but once again it was gathered comfortably. Duncan Watmore put a cross into the box, which eventually fell to Jeremain Lens who hit a shot, which, Hennessey had to stretch his frame to save on the line. That was the closest the Black Cats had come to scoring.
With six minutes left, a long ball was played over the top towards Jermaine Defoe who chased it, as Scott Dann seemed to be favourite to get it. However Hennessey came racing out and Dann played the ball past him. Defoe who had kept running got his just reward as he tapped the ball into the empty net to give Sunderland the lead against the run of play. What a calamity in defence due to a lack of communication.
A minute later Palace went down the other end and Cabaye hit a shot, which was tipped over by Pantilimon. Zaha worked a great angle on the right and crossed low to McArthur but he scoffed his shot.
Palace kept probing with five added minutes but the defence led by Younes Kaboul were resolute and dug deep to see out the game. With the fourth official raising the board for five added minutes, the Selhurst faithful tried to lift their team to create at least one last chance. Sunderland though kept the ball well and managed to run the clock down by earning free kicks in the Palace half near the corner flanks.
There was still time for one last nervy moment as Sunderland conceded a free kick in the last minute of added time. Cabaye stepped up and hit the ball into the side netting and Martin Atkinson blew his whistle for full time. This sent the travelling Sunderland fans into raptures of delight. They would not care what time they get home as the journey was well worth it.
As for Palace, they do not have time to feel sorry for themselves as they play Sunderland’s North East rivals, Newcastle here on Saturday. Another defeat or draw would be another missed opportunity for them to move further up the table and further their ambition this season. Alan Pardew said: “We should have been a bit more simplistic with that back five but we did not do that. It is a painful loss for us. We should have been more incisive in the last third. We had a lot of territory and possession but really did not create a great deal. We just could not get the balance right tonight.”
Sam Allardyce said: “We had to be determined and dogged. Our two victories have been from two clean sheets. We nullified Bolasie and frustrated Zaha. We did not allow them to create anything. For us it is a massive victory and hopefully one that instills more confidence in the players.”
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