What a frustrating result. Perhaps Mark Gardiner's review will give some solace. Perhaps it won't.
A night’s sleep hasn’t dispersed the disappointment of yesterday evening’s result, another case of high expectation on a Monday night = deep disappointment. What happened to our impressive home record under lights? To be fair I thought Sunderland deserved the points after a disciplined & hard-working display that would have had Tony Pulis drooling. I have little time for Allardyce’s public persona but he took the shambles of Goodison a fortnight ago and got his tactics spot on. Sunderland set out to frustrate Palace on & off the pitch, starting the time-wasting in about the second minute, and it certainly worked as the irritation boiled volubly down from the stands. But it wasn’t only pulling everyone back: Defoe & Fletcher started up front, but often drifting wide or one dropped deep when not in possession. The Mackems broke well on the break and had more than a handful of chances & openings, probably more than we did. Yet again we bemoaned two aspects of Palace’s play – the lack of a cutting edge in a striker who knows where the goal is, and the paucity of good crosses or final passes. The night was summed up by the comedy gold that was Defoe’s early Christmas present, wrapped by Bolasie & Dann and finished with a pretty ribbon by Hennessey.
Palace made two changes from the victorious Anfield XI: Ward came in for Kelly at right back, and Wickham replaced Sako to face his old employers. When I saw Sunderland line up with 3 at the back I thought we’d crucify them, exploiting the space on the flanks. Shows what I know! The wing backs stuck tight to our wingers, who were now meeting an opponent some 20 yards further up the pitch than usual, and rarely managed to work up a head of stem before being closed down. Our alternative play, a long ball dropping into the spaces towards the corners, was cut off as one of the central three was always available to move across and cover. It required the Palace full backs to push up in support but Ward didn’t look entirely match fit while Souaré had a mediocre game.
The first half was pretty dire. After an early burst of Palace set pieces, none of which was delivered effectively (Puncheon & Cabaye), it was Sunderland who made three decent openings in the first 20 minutes, but the nearest they came was when Defoe delayed his shot then dragged it wide. Palace improved slightly, but Bolasie soon went off the boil while Wilf did deliver a handful of good crosses, and the sum of our efforts was a shot lacking power from Yannick that dribbled through to Pantilimon, and then a driving run & shot from distance by McArthur that went straight at the keeper. Not much else happened as both teams contrived to cough up possession and some of the passing was woeful.
Sako came on for Puncheon at half time and immediately spiced the game up, and early driven cross being perhaps the best delivery of the night; typically there was no-one around to finish it. Our crossing in general continued the poor standard of the first half, a number from both flanks being wildly overhit; Wilf did again put some good ones in among the dross. Sadly Sako’s hamstring soon let him down and he was soon replaced by Bamford. It was Sunderland who should have taken the lead, a Coates header from a corner cleared off the line by Cabaye at the far post, and they continued to make chances throughout the half: a dozy piece of defending by Bolasie led to a shot that Hennessey could only have seen late and he managed to grab the ball on the line – Yannick received a bollocking from Scott & Wayne for that. Then twice inside a minute it took a fine tackle then interception by Dann to stop attackers breaking clear.
Palace did improve but for all our possession chances were few & far between, mostly being efforts from the edge of the box or beyond as we struggled to break through Sunderland’s central barrier of six green shirts. When we did Cabaye had an effort saved routinely, Sako one that went wide, and Wickham had one chance under pressure that went over, while Zaha & Bolasie both had openings. Wickham, who generally was ineffective, was replaced by Chamakh with about 10 minutes to go. Work rate was not a problem, with Cabaye & McArthur always busy, but there was a lack of creativity with as our play often broke down on the edge of the box.
Having seen our bête-noir Fletcher replaced by the impressive Whatmore, the goal came out of nothing. This is how I saw it. Bolasie lost possession near the halfway line, allowing Defoe a one-on-one foot race with Dann. Hennessey reckoned he could reach the ball before either of them & advanced from his area. Whether that put Dann off I don’t know but he wallowed Defoe to get from behind him, and stuck out a leg to divert the ball; sadly he just guided it past Wayne and Defoe ran past both to walk the ball into the net. If Hennessey had stayed at home I don’t think there is a major problem, but Dann still had time to thump the ball off – he was still probably too close to play a safe back pass. Then again, if Yannick doesn’t lose the ball... Credit to Defoe who didn’t give up what looked a forlorn hope, which summed up Sunderland’s attitude as a team.
Palace tried to put the pressure on and Cabaye brought a fine save from Pantilimon while Zaha & McArthur had efforts stopped more easily, but Sunderland efficiently ran the ball down in a display straight from Pulis’s 2013-14 playbook. The final play of the night summed our display up: Cabaye had a free kick on the right and, with everyone up, went for goal and found the side netting.
Hennessey – 5 – Nothing to do in the first half, then one good save in the second before his poor decision to advance for their goal.
Ward – 5 – Looked a little slower than usual, perhaps not fully match fit, as he didn’t support the attacks as often.
Souaré – 5 – Not his best game, his passing sometimes was mediocre although he did try hard down the left to support his winger.
Dann – 5 – His two quick interventions in the second half will be overshadowed by his hesitancy and error for the goal, not helped by his keeper.
Delaney – 6 – Reasonable display, although the Delaney Diagonal was not an effective weapon given Sunderland’s formation.
McArthur – 6 – Worked hard all night in the deep lying midfield role. Had a chance in each half that were both saved routinely by Pantilimon.
Cabaye – 6 – Again worked hard in both roles but seldom found the pass to bypass the massed ranks of green shirts. Cleared one off the line but his set pieces were surprisingly poor, like the last second free kick. His play summed up by shot in final seconds of first half that went hilariously wide.
Puncheon – 5 – Nice touches but little profit from them. His corners were awful drifting efforts that caused no problems whatsoever to the defenders.
Bolasie – 5 – Started well then was far less effective for much of the game – credit to his markers (he switched flanks more than once). Did make an impression later on. Fell asleep & allowed a chance for Lens, then robbed in the build up to their goal.
Zaha – 6 – Some of his crosses were good, some were awful, but he did look our best chance of finding a gap in the defences.
Wickham – 5 – Bland & uninspiring display, although he didn’t get much of a service, and must be rusty.
Sako – 6 – Looked good in his 20 minutes with drive & power that no-one else in red & blue could show; sadly injury cut short his contribution.
Bamford – 5 – I thought his clever touches might be more effective than Wickham’s bludgeon, but he is too one-footed and was a second too slow to react.
Chamakh – 5 – Late sub who managed one dramatic fall unappreciated by the referee.