A couple of hours before kick-off, north-east England received its first snowfall of winter. Minutes into the first half Sam Allardyce must have wished it had been sufficiently severe to prompt the postponement of a game that would leave his side stuck in the bottom three and a thoroughly impressive Watford surveying the view from the heights of seventh place.
Sunderland’s manager had cautioned John O’Shea and the rest of his apparently frozen back-five about the danger posed by Odion Ighalo but such warnings were clearly in vain. Individual defenders had been sent video clips of how to try to stop the Nigerian striker but they either failed to open the attachments sent to their laptops and tablets or, more probably, simply found the task of putting theory into practice well beyond them.
By the end, an amalgam of his own profligacy – he missed three inviting chances – and Costel Pantilimon had come between Ighalo and the celebration of a hat-trick. No matter, Sunderland’s failure to prevent him reprising what looked a well rehearsed training ground manoeuvre ensured Quique Sánchez Flores’s centre-forward effectively settled matters in the fourth minute.
When Allan Nyom – industry personified down the visitors’ right flank – crossed low, Ighalo ghosted in front of a startled Sebastián Coates before directing the ball beyond Pantilimon from close range. Or at least that is how it appeared to the naked eye; television replays suggest Coates may possibly have applied the final touch.
Flores’s sole concern was the scoreline’s slenderness. “We could have won more comfortably,” said a manager who, having hugged assorted players, walked off at the end arm in arm with Troy Deeney, his captain and an indefatigable presence at both ends of the pitch. “We’re always thinking about how we can improve but I’m very proud of everyone.”
It was no surprise that Flores had appeared slightly miffed when Allardyce claimed this was a relegation six-pointer. Perhaps attempting to prove they are entitled to harbour somewhat loftier ambitions, Watford should really have doubled their advantage after Ighalo seamlessly turned O’Shea before his shot was blocked. It provoked an almighty goalmouth scramble that concluded with José Manuel Jurado shooting against a post.
Allardyce barely had time to sigh with relief before scrapping a five-man defence that was clearly malfunctioning in the absence of the unwell Younès Kaboul. With DeAndre Yedlin – responsible for a few concessions of possession – taken off, Jack Rodwell was introduced into a central midfield department also struggling without the injured Lee Cattermole.
Although Pantilimon did well to repel a low, curling strike from Étienne Capoue, Sunderland’s new look 4-1-4-1 ensured they saw a bit more of the ball, even appearing mildly threatening at times.
Not that this prevented Watford from continuing to menace on the counterattack or the home side being booed off by the near 44,000-strong crowd at half-time.
Endeavouring to change the mood music, Allardyce pressed almost every available tactical button, a process that meant the ineffective Fabio Borini was replaced by Adam Johnson.
Watford, finally, needed to do some proper defending but they seemed rather good at it, generally restricting their hosts to shooting from long range until finally becoming somewhat unnerved by Jermain Defoe’s arrival from the bench.
Before Defoe’s emergence – coinciding with Allardyce’s introduction of a diamond formation – Heurelho Gomes had done little notable bar divert Rodwell’s vicious drive, but the switch was to precipitate all sorts of questions as to why the former England striker had not been sent on earlier.
Almost immediately Defoe had the ball in the back of the net, only for that strike to be, correctly, ruled out for offside. Suddenly Sunderland were rampant. Duncan Watmore unleashed a swerving shot that whizzed fractionally wide and Gomes performed wonders to deny Defoe before watching, gratefully, as Johnson and Defoe volleyed marginally off target.
In between Pantilimon, Coates and his own miscue prevented the rapidly breaking Ighalo from scoring.
“We didn’t play very well in the first half. We had to change the system after 20 minutes to try and load up the midfield but the second half was a different story,” said Allardyce. “The biggest disappointment is that the gap between us and mid-table is getting bigger. If we can’t win we need to make sure we draw.”
