Bilic: Don’t throw in the towel yet, Dick
SUNDERLAND 2 Fletcher (10), Lens (22) WEST HAM UNITED 2 Jenkinson (45), Payet (60)
SLAVEN BILIC urged Dick Advocaat not to step down as Sunderland boss – as the Dutchman kept the Premier League waiting.
Advocaat confirmed after this match, in which his side blew a two-goal lead after being reduced to 10 men, that he had decided whether he was quitting or not.
The 68-year-old was moved to tears on the touchline as his side, who went into the game without a League win in their opening seven games of the season, raced into a 2-0 lead through Steven Fletcher and Jeremain Lens, who was later sent off for a second bookable offence. But Carl Jenkinson pulled one back in first-half stoppage time and, after Lens’ departure, Dimitri Payet equalised.
Bilic and Advocaat embraced after the match, and Bilic said: “I told him to stay, of course I did.
“First of all, I feel sorry for all the managers. On the one hand, it’s a great job – we wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t – but on the other hand, the pressure that all the managers are under, it’s enormous, media, agents, fans, board, everything. So, firstly, I have sympathy.
“Secondly, I know Dick and I’m a big admirer. If he goes, the Premier League would miss him. He is a man of knowledge, experience, six international teams – this is unbelievable – so that’s what I told him.
“I would really like him to stay because I saw him on the touchline with me and he is full of energy. It would be a shame if he goes, and I really hope that he stays.”
What seems to be Advocaat’s last game in charge unravelled alarmingly in front of a crowd of 42,932 as the Black Cats extended their run without a League victory to 11 games stretching back to last season while collecting just their third point of the current campaign.
Advocaat said: “The way we played was positive for everybody. There was not a player who was not in the game.
“We showed the commitment that you need in football defensively, but also when we had the ball. It was a joy to watch from the side and also for the crowd.
“Overall, I am very proud of what they showed, the commitment was really great.”
West Ham ultimately surrendered their 100% League record on the road this season, but will take some comfort from their fightback. Whatever the future may hold for Sunderland’s head coach, his players chose the moment to turn in their best 45 minutes of the season to race into a 2-0 lead, which could have been even greater.
Unfortunately, the first half lasted significantly longer and it was in added time that the Hammers grabbed a lifeline they scarcely deserved.
Fletcher started the ball rolling with just 10 minutes gone when, after Jenkinson had hauled Fabio Borini to the floor in pursuit of Yann M’Vila’s ball over the top, M’Vila pulled the free-kick square to the Scotland international and he slammed it first-time past a helpless Adrian.
The Black Cats were simply irresistible with the midfield trio of Lee Cattermole, Ola Toivonen and the hugely impressive M’Vila dominant, and it was the Frenchman who capitalised on Winston Reid’s hurried clearance from Payet’s under-cooked 22nd-minute pass to slide the ball into the path of Lens and watch him chip over the stranded keeper and score via the underside of the bar.
The game could have been effectively over before the break with Borini shooting narrowly wide on two occasions, the first of them after being played through by Fletcher’s clever flick.
But having failed to kill off the contest, Sunderland were made to pay in stoppage time when Victor Moses created half a yard of space and crossed for Jenkinson to score.
Payet forced Costel Pantilimon into a 48th-minute save with a curling free-kick and Manuel Lanzini fired just wide.
The visitors received a further boost seconds later when Lens, who had already been booked for a first-half challenge on Aaron Cresswell, went through the back of Winston Reid and was shown a second yellow card. And they needed just three minutes to make their numerical advantage count.
Pantilimon could not hold Lanzini’s shot from distance and Payet was on hand to convert the rebound and stun the locals inside the Stadium of Light.