Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez scored his first league goal since March 2014 to deny Sunderland their first win of the season but the home side’s tepid display will have done little to whet the appetite for their upcoming European tour – as their supporters so proudly sang – that will span as far as Israel and San Siro.
Ten minutes from time Jermain Defoe went down under pressure from the Southampton captain, José Fonte, after Jeremain Lens’s low cross into the box. The striker got up to convert the penalty, extending Southampton’s record of 15 consecutive matches without a clean sheet. But Rodriguez, a late substitute here in place of a lethargic Charlie Austin, drilled low and underneath the Sunderland goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford, who should have done better.
Any pre-match excitement surrounding Friday’s Europa League draw – in which Southampton will face trips to Internazionale, Sparta Prague and Hapoel Be’er Sheva – was quickly extinguished in a largely drab affair. How Southampton could have done with the energy of Sofiane Boufal, the Lille midfielder expected to join the club for a record fee before Wednesday’s transfer deadline.
With Vito Mannone sidelined for three months with an elbow injury, Pickford, who spent half of last season on loan at Preston North End, again deputised in goal. And the 22-year-old had impressed, doing well to keep both Dusan Tadic and Austin at bay, until his timely mistake allowed Rodriguez’s low shot to squeak under his left hand.
“I told him he played really well,” said the Sunderland manager, David Moyes, who skirted around whether Manchester City’s Joe Hart would be a plausible signing before Wednesday. “We need to bring in another goalkeeper, there’s no doubt there. I wouldn’t say anybody is in the frame because I wouldn’t mention names. I always want good players. The boy [Pickford] played well today and he should not be ashamed of his performance.”
While Moyes ponders who might arrive at the Stadium of Light in coming days, the Scot looks set to lose the defender Lamine Koné, who impressed on his return to the team alongside Papy Djilobodji in the heart of defence.
It was Koné who wasted his side’s best chance from open play, sending his first-half header narrowly wide after losing Cédric Soares at the back post. But Southampton were tamed time and again by the Sunderland back line, completed by Patrick van Aanholt and the debutant Javier Manquillo on the flanks at left and right-back respectively.
Southampton’s manager, Claude Puel, handed a first start of the season to Austin but he flattered to deceive and, unsurprisingly, appeared short of match fitness. Both Austin and Fonte sent wayward passes out of play to grumbles from a restless home crowd, who had little to cheer about until Rodriguez’s strike. Their first-half frustrations were compounded when Nathan Redmond was awarded a yellow card for dissent by the referee Lee Mason.
As the hosts huffed and puffed, Sunderland grew into a drab affair, lit up by sparks of clever play from a front three of Defoe, Fabio Borini and Adnan Januzaj. Defoe, though not in his heyday, remains the sharpest tool in the box available to Moyes and the evergreen striker deserved his goal, lashing home from the penalty spot and beyond the Southampton goalkeeper, Fraser Forster. Defoe caused panic in the Southampton defence and his manager, Moyes, believes he can still do so on the international stage. Asked whether Defoe could be included in Sam Allardyce’s England squad, Moyes he replied: “I wouldn’t be surprised at all because he’s a goalscorer. Sam knows him better than me but he’s a good pro and he wants to do things right.”
Sunderland’s six-year wait for a league win in August goes on but there are plenty of positive signs, namely the young performers Pickford, the 20-year-old Lynden Gooch and the substitute Duncan Watmore. Pickford had twice saved well in the second half from Shane Long and Redmond before eventually coming undone against Rodriguez, who was hauled on by Puel as a last throw of the dice.
A loan move to West Bromwich Albion had been mooted for Rodriguez, who has struggled for regular football since returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Despite his late equaliser, Puel refused to rule out the striker leaving the club before Wednesday’s transfer deadline.
“It’s important to listen and have a good discussion with him for the future,” said Puel. “We will see in the next days. I am happy for Jay to score this afternoon and after his injuries, it was important for him to come back and score.”
