Big Sam brings back the magic for the Black Cats.
Crystal Palace 0 - 1 Sunderland 23/11/15
With only one win in thirteen games so far into the season, the Black Cats needed a miracle to keep the hopes alive in the top flight. Since the poor performance at Everton and the awful results; Sunderland needed to rethink their game plan and change things around. The Premier Leagueis a tough group of clubs that want dominance in top flight Football; where anything can happen, upsets and twists can be a season changer for any club. Sunderland survived last season by a thread and looks certain this season to face the drop once again.
Sam Allardyce has made a few changes to the starting XI since arriving at Sunderland; knowing that this game was a battle that had to be won.
Formation changes are key to a clean sheet
It wasn't all plain sailing; right at the start of the game, Sunderland had to defend from a strong Palace attack. Within four minuets things started to look up for the Black Cats, Sebastian Coates had the best chance in the game with a close header at near post; only Cabaye clears off the line to keep the Eagles in the game. Cabaye made a dash into Sunderland's defence and had a chance himself only to shoot wide from goal. It was all Palace attacks in the first half that ended even. With a team on a defencive weaken wall, something had to change in the second half.
Pantilimon magnificent stops have been the turning point in the game; with the team digging deep and defend, defend is all they had to do.
Patience comes to those who wait
With the players sure was tired and looking for a point from the game; one mistake is all it took to change things altogether. A superbly play by Defoe and a mistake by Palace back defence made the game all over.
Palace Dann had a slippy chance and messed up an easy clearance to playthrough Defoe; all to take around the Palace goalkeeper to end this tough game. Sunderland can look at this as their best performance this season and start to play as a team the fans want to see each game.
