It is safe to say this is not a match that will be replayed on Sky Sports often but Sam Allardyce will not care one bit after seeing his team record a victory on the back of a performance that had his fingerprints all over it. Sunderland were organised in defence, strong in midfield and, most importantly, decisive in attack. The visitors may not have deserved to leave south London with all three points but that is what they achieved and they should no longer feel relegation is a formality.
There is still work to do, given that Sunderland remain in the bottom three and are one point from safety before Saturday’s visit of Stoke, but there is now undoubtedly a firm base to build on. Allardyce intimated as much when describing this win, Sunderland’s second of the season and first away from home, as “massive” and one that “hopefully instils more confidence in the players”.
And surely no one will feel more enthused than Jermain Defoe, who got the winner here in a style that showed at the age of 33 he remains a finisher who retains cleverness of movement and thought when it matters most. This contest appeared to be heading towards a stodgy goalless draw when, with 10 minutes remaining, Scott Dann failed to deal properly with Billy Jones’s pass. The Palace defender could have shepherded the ball back to his goalkeeper, Wayne Hennessey, or cleared it out of play, but instead he felt Defoe’s breath on his neck and panicked, hooking the ball straight into the path of Sunderland’s No18, who rounded Hennessey and was never going to miss with the net gaping in front of him.
For Dann it was some way to crash back to earth having scored Palace’s late winner when they won 2-1 at Liverpool before the international break and for all those associated with the south London club, who could have moved up to sixth with victory here, the sense of injustice was obvious. They had dominated possession, territory and chances created against opponents who from the outset were content to defend deep and counter-attack when the opportunity presented itself.
From Allardyce came no apologies for his methods. The manager’s decision to line up his team in a 3-5-2 formation, which had backfired when used in the 6-2 defeat by Everton at the start of the month, had worked a treat, with the three-man defence of Sebastián Coates, John O’Shea and Younès Kaboul particularly impressing with their organisation and relentless desire to block and clear every cross and shot that came their way. A clean sheet, Sunderland’s second of the season following the one they achieved in the recent 3-0 win against Newcastle, was fully deserved.
“I have no problem winning 1-0 and playing exactly how Crystal Palace play away from home,” said Allardyce. “Palace do it better than us but we’ve done it sufficiently well tonight. We nullified Bolasie, frustrated Zaha and haven’t allowed Palace to create any clear-cut chances. We know the goal came from a mistake by the opposition but, when the opposition make a mistake, you have to capitalise on it and that’s what we did.”
Palace did create chances but, as Allardyce said, their key threats were kept at bay, with Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha and Jason Puncheon unable to find the time and space behind the former Sunderland player Connor Wickham, playing alone up front, to cause problems with their pace and trickery. The home team were being restricted to speculative efforts, with the most eye-catching in the first half being James McArthur’s long-range drive on 30 minutes that Costel Pantilimon comfortably saved.
Pardew brought Bakary Sako on for Puncheon at the break and switched to a 4-4-2 formation in an attempt to break Sunderland down and while Palace, playing with more pace and gusto, did begin to make inroads, with Yohan Cabaye and Sako – who had to be replaced himself on 69 minutes due to a suspected hamstring strain – delivering decent shots on goal within a matter of minutes, the threat from those in red and blue was never overwhelming.
“We weren’t as good as we normally are,” admitted Pardew. “A few of our players were not at their best and we couldn’t find a way to break Sunderland down. It’s a painful loss for us.”
And it was not lost on Pardew that the pain was ultimately delivered by a player he knows well, having managed Defoe during their time together at West Ham. The striker’s goal was his seventh of the season and credit should be given to Jones for the role he played in the decisive moment, stealing possession from Bolasie close to the halfway line before delivering a quick pass through the heart of Palace’s defence.
“The players have got to be saviours, not me,” said Allardyce. “I can guide them but they need to go out and prove themselves and the only way they can do that is by getting results like this one.”
