After days in which column inches and air-time has been dominated by the man who has brought darkness and dishonour to the Stadium of Light, the players Adam Johnson left behind produced a sterling performance to leave their vociferous
followers with something positive to contemplate, if not the deserved outcome.
Defeat would, no doubt, have been accompanied by excuses proffered about the off-field distraction of the Johnson court case, but there was never any chance of that here. In truth the visitors should have secured victory after Jermain Defoe rose from the bench to beat goalkeeper Fraser Forster with his 14th goal of the season and what looked certain to be a winner.
Saints had by then been reduced to 10 men, following the dismissal of captain Jose Fonte. Virgil van Dijk forced a stoppage-time equaliser for lucky Southampton, who were a long way below form for too much of this contest.
Sunderland have garnered 22 points from 21 games since Allardyce’s arrival and he was devastated that his men had failed to close further on his target figure of 38 points.
“A kick in the teeth… that’s an understatement of how we feel,” he said. “How much more difficult we’ve made our job. We’re without a game next week, and this would have taken us three points clear. But we’ve thrown it away and put more and more pressure on ourselves. It was a fantastic performance, but that ultimate clean sheet is still eluding us.”
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His counterpart Ronald Koeman, who had questioned his team’s hunger after the insipid display at Bournemouth on Tuesday, changed half his outfield players, although two
absentees, Charlie Austin and Shane Long, were injured. Saints, though, showed little of the verve that normally characterises their game. Their manager admitted: “We played our best football in the last five to six minutes.”
Several of Allardyce’s side played in the humiliating 8-0 defeat here last season, including goalkeeper Vito Mannone who had been beaten twice in the first 18 minutes. Yesterday, he enjoyed a distinctly quieter start. It was not until Dusan Tadic picked up Graziano Pelle’s nod-down and let fly with an effort that deflected off Patrick van Aanholt that the goalkeeper was seriously called into action, making a spectacular save.
Allardyce’s men carried the greater threat, with Fabio Borini and Wahbi Khazri both menacing the home rearguard.
Defoe appeared just before the hour, but it was Borini who continued to look likeliest to effect a breakthrough and as the Italian scampered towards goal, he was hauled down by the otherwise excellent Fonte, who was dismissed by referee Neil Swarbrick. Van Aanholt forced a splendid save from Forster with the resulting free kick, but with five minutes remaining Defoe gave the goalkeeper no chance after Lamine Kone had delivered a ball into the box.
Saints finally rose to the challenge. Tadic crossed and van Dijk made space before striking an unmerited equaliser for Koeman’s men.
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Southampton: Forster 6, Martina 6, Van Dijk 8, Fonte 7, Bertrand 6, Romeu 7, Clasie 6 (Ward-Prowse 65min, 6), Mane 6 (Yoshida 83min, 5), Davis 6 (Juanmi 65min, 5), Tadic 6, Pelle 5
Sunderland: Mannone 7, Yedlin 7, Kone 6, Kaboul 6, Van Aanholt 7, Kirchhoff 6 (O’Shea 90min, 5), N’Doye 6 (Defoe 59min, 7), M’Vila 6, Rodwell 6, Khazri 7 (Larsson 76min, 5), Borini 7
