Pantillimon should start the next game he was superb. It's not complicated but having a six foot seven keeper helps massively with defending crosses, as much as I like Mannone he doesn't have that physical presence. What a save he made as well, it was pretty funny watching him wailing like a child that had skinned it's knee afterwards but it shows his passion which is great. Good assists for both Bridcutt and Buckley too.
Large slice of luck last night, despite Brown's best efforts! If we had conceded a penalty after 30 seconds, and possibly a man sent off as a result I would have been to take away to the loony bin! Still, about time we had some luck and it was nice that we capitalised on it. Just one poor refereeing decision between utter despair and having a smile on my face. We are always just one performance/result away from having my confidence sapped away from me, and last night was a midges knacker away from being one of those! So I'm not gonna get carried away!
Can you remember the last time we had that luck go our way? I certainly can't. Ref tried his hardest to even it up second half as he gave EVERYTHING to Zaha and Boulasie every time they fell over - but a blatant two handed shove on Fletcher 19 yards from goal got nothing... And the Jedinak second yellow should've been a straight red for kicking out (and he should've been booked minutes earlier for a stonewall foul on Gomez) Vergini wasn't the "last man" - there were people around who could've got involved so I don't think he'd have been sent off
But to have that amount of luck after 30 seconds is a game changer! I agree, Vergini should not have been sent off. But known our luck, he would have been, if the penalty had been given. I think what swayed the referees decision was that the player was not in control of the ball and the keeper was gonna pounce on it comfortably. But it was still a penalty though!
GUS POYET was delighted that luck was on his side for once as Sunderland broke their Monday hoodoo to beat Crystal Palace 3-1 last night. The Black Cats had not won on a Monday evening in the last 20 games, but a brace from Steven Fletcher and a cool finish from Jordi Gomez either side of yet another own goal gave Poyet’s side the points in the capital. After a tumultuous fortnight that included an 8-0 defeat at Southampton and a 2-0 home reverse to Arsenal, Poyet’s relief at the full-time whistle was clear. “We needed a win somehow, I can’t put into words what we did. But we had to win. All managers can talk about a specific way of playing but this was just about winning. There were so many things against us, the last few weeks, the last 20 games on a Monday night, we needed to do something to win. “This was a game where we knew we needed to suffer for periods. We knew it would be difficult for a few moments but we knew we’d have to play through it and suffer and when you have the chance you need to get the ball down and play, and take advantage of what we were trying to do. “You can’t just play one way. We couldn’t just say we are a passing team and that is it. I think that was the best part of it.” Fletcher took full advantage of slack defending to notch his first goal of the evening, before slotting home in stoppage time to put the gloss on a hard-working performance at Selhurst Park, and Poyet paid tribute to his lone striker. “Fletcher has been like that since he got injured and I dropped him. He has been outstanding in training, and he has been a really refreshing player to watch,” said Poyet. “If we put the ball in there for him I’m sure that he’s going to score plenty for us. “It’s up to us to create, he’s the finisher. We need to give it to him, for him to finish.” Palace were denied a penalty with just 23 seconds on the clock when Fraizer Campbell was hauled down by Santiago Vergini, a decision that manager Neil Warnock railed at in the aftermath of the game, and Poyet felt he would have had no complaints had Phil Dowd pointed to the spot. “I think everyone is saying that it was a penalty, so I’m not going to disagree,” said the Uruguayan. “Even my analyst said that it was a penalty. We got the luck. We haven’t had much luck this year so what’s important is that when you have it, you take advantage and win the game. “I think the players deserve the credit because it was not easy. It’s not easy to come here, they didn’t stop coming and coming at you. They keep putting the ball in the box, they keep winning corners, you need to withstand that to have a chance of winning the game.” Sunderland once again travelled in fine numbers, some achievement considering their last trip ended in an 8-0 loss, and Poyet added: “The fans had the worst trip ever back from Southampton, the trip from London is a little bit shorter but I’m sure it’s going to be a pretty one.” One negative from the game was the injury to Patrick van Aanholt, who fell awkwardly after a challenge on Wilfried Zaha, and Poyet is awaiting further news on the defender. “He’s in hospital now and they’re trying to put it back,” Poyet said. “We’re just waiting to find out the damage and how long he will be out for. I don’t know too much about shoulder injuries.” Sunderland’s victory came in a new all-white third kit, and Poyet hopes his side can wear it again if it brings the same result. “Maybe we should ask to play in white more often,” joked Poyet. “I don’t think it’s going to be possible, but after 20 games without winning on a Monday night, that’s finished now. You’re not going to be able to ask me about that. “Then we played in white for the first time and we won, so maybe we should do it again.”
http://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/11/4/7151527/crystal-palace-vs-sunderland-player-ratings Costel Pantilimon - 7 Took crosses with ease all night on his league debut for Sunderland, while making a couple of fine saves. Incredibly unlucky with Palace's second-half equaliser when magnificently denying Chamakh to his left, only to see sub Wes Brown hurtling towards him before bundling the ball into his own net. Anthony Reveillere - 7 Steady debut for Frenchman Reveillere, who'll still be getting used to the pace of the Premier League. Had to switch to left-back from the right after van Aanholt departed and looked decent with both feet. Santiago Vergini - 5 Could have given away a penalty when clipping former Sunderland man Fraizer Campbell in the box after 25 seconds and looked shaky defensively for the majority of the contest. Popped up twice in the attacking third to almost score once in each half, though. His contribution going forward dragged his mark up from something much more scathing. John O'Shea - 6 A couple of worrying moments early doors gave way to a more assured performance as the game wore on. Solid generally. Patrick van Aanholt - 7 Flying Dutchman van Aanholt started brightly, especially when getting forward to cross for Steven Fletcher to head home the opening goal, but was forced to go off on a stretcher with a damaged shoulder shortly after his assist. Lee Cattermole - 6 Gave away a couple of silly fouls early on, but held his defensive position impressively to help provide a screen for the back four. Ended up receiving a booking which rules him out of Sunday's home clash against Everton. Sebastian Larsson - 6 Showcased a couple of fabulous long passes, but didn't affect the game massively. Hardworking. Jordi Gomez - 7 Involved in some nice interplay with van Aanholt leading up to Fletcher's opener, while scoring one of his own with a sublime low strike from 20 yards out to hand Sunderland a 2-1 advantage. Neat and tidy overall. Will Buckley - 8 Direct, non-stop, attack-minded performance from Buckley, who was a threat throughout the evening. Justified his selection once again. Connor Wickham - 5 Wickham displayed a poor first touch on numerous occasions and only had one effort of note on target with a point-blank header near the end of the first half, which he aimed straight at Speroni. Much more required. Steven Fletcher - 9 Showed great willingness to come deep in order to get involved with the team's build-up play and put away a sublime header from 12 yards to hand the Black Cats a welcome first-half lead. Grabbed a second in injury-time at the end of the match with a wonderful left-foot finish. Back to his supreme best. Subs: Wes Brown - 6 Blocked numerous shots after entering the field in place of the injured van Aanholt. Couldn't get out of the way when running towards his own goal early in the second period, which resulted in conceding yet another unfortunate goal. Jozy Altidore - 6 Liam Bridcutt - 7 Slid Fletcher through for his second of the night, which should give him a confidence boost with the possibility that he might start in Cattermole's absence at the weekend. Man of the Match: Steven Fletcher - Two great goals and worked hard all night -------------------------------------------------------------------- Not sure if I would agree with Buckley/Gomez's ratings mind but the rest are relatively dot on Gomez imo was **** apart from the goal he scored, very slow and seems to think he has far more time than he actually does Buckley made a couple of good runs but completely disappeared in the second half
See I agree to a point - but if it had been with 30 seconds left at 0-0 it's a lot luckier. We had an awful lot of bad luck first half against Southampton - particularly a stonewall penalty which was not given at 0-2 and 2 minutes later it's 0-3! It's evened itself up
Buckley got a ****ing 8!! Seriously? Did they actually watch the game or just glance up when he had the ball and passed to Gomez?
Just goes to show how tight things are......if, lets say, we had somehow beaten Southampton, we'd be 7th!!!!
Just about evens out the penalty/sending off incident at Southampton which was 10 times clearer than the one last night.. PS..It has been great viewing watching Weaselly Warnock squirm on Sky Sports today..
Aye, we are due some luck, and I'm happy we have getting it! I just hope we can now bring a bit of confidence into the next game.....string some wins together......something we rarely do (except for that anomaly near the end of last season).
Or if Vergini hadn't started the ball rolling and scored that absolute corker! The way the game was going up to that point, we might have won it! Just shows that games and results are on a knifes edge. One moment(s) has a massive affect on the game and season. The Southampton game and last nights are classic examples. If we had shocked Soton we'd be 7th and my mindset certainly (and the players) would be a lot more optimistic! Newcastle were atrocious against Spurs in the first half. Colback pings an excellent but hopeful ball after 3 seconds into the second half, Newcastle havnt looked back since. If Colback had just played a simple pass, Newcastle would probably have lost that game, and still been in the clarts and Pardew could be gone by now! Seasons can be made in moments that just last a second!
Well done fellas! A massive result in the scheme of things and im over the moon for the travelling fans! Was on my way to work as the game was about to start, today had marked 8 years since my brother passed away from cancer and reminiscing on his great achievments and fighting character I hoped this would help SAFC on our Monday night curse. Obviously I wasn't able to watch the game but reading Patrick had assisted Fletcher's head I was filled with excitement and knew my bro was cheering us on! Poor old Wes brown, he's trying but like mannone has been found out imo. This didn't deter me as I could feel my bro's fighting spirit egging us on! Gomez scoring felt like I was high fiving my brother just a awesome feeling! Fletch finishing it off was all class :-D The good day continues. We had the Melbourne cup here today and my work picks a horse out for each employee.. I got protectionist and that's right he won the race! $100 in me pocket!
