A fan was arrested after he clashed with Damien Delaney in Sunderland’s 4-0 win
Sam Allardyce had described this game as the “ultimate six-pointer” last week. The Crystal Palace manager never imagined that ‘ultimate humiliation’ may prove a more apt description. Overwhelmed, and trailing by four goals before the break to a Sunderland side, who were given renewed hope in their battle to climb away from the foot of the table, Allardyce’s side were simply abject.
It was a desperate day for the South London club and one that may prompt an FA investigation into an on-field confrontation between a supporter and Damien Delaney, the Palace centreback, as the players left the field at halftime. By that point, having conceded three goals in the last six minutes of the half, the home supporters vented their frustration.
While David Moyes, the Sunderland manager, spoke of hope after building on the midweek draw with Tottenham Hotspur and moving level on points with Palace, Allardyce admitted his side had been gripped by fear after falling behind to Lamine Kone’s 10thminute goal.
Didier Ndong’s long-range effort and two precise finishes from Jermain Defoe settled the game before the break, and the inquests had started long before the final whistle, with Allardyce left trying to understand why his side had taken such a dramatic backward step after their midweek win at Bournemouth.
“It was all about fear from the players when the first goal went in,” he said. “The fear overtook them and they lost control, and you have to keep control mentally in this game. Particularly when you go a goal down. It’s apparent, for me, that the players are struggling in their home form.”
As tense as the atmosphere was, Allardyce insisted that provided no excuse for his under-performing players, who contributed to their own downfall with a succession of defensive errors. “It’s not down to the fans; the fans don’t place them under a huge amount of pressure, compared to other clubs I’ve managed,” he said. “I apologise to them for coming and seeing what they saw in that first half.”
For Moyes, there were only positives. “We always set out expecting to win at half-time,” he said. “But to be 4-0 up at half-time – I’m actually trying to remember when I have been in that situation as a manager. I can’t remember too many.”
Sunderland had arrived in south London in trouble and, apparently, over-reliant on Jermain Defoe for goals. Indeed, Defoe was the only player in Moyes’s starting line-up to have scored for Sunderland this season. By the final whistle, that concern had been addressed as Sunderland made a convincing case for survival.
They were helped on their way by Palace’s generous defence that offered its first gift in when keeper Wayne Hennessey failed to hold Kone’s header and the defender reacted first to sweep home the loose ball. Palace’s response was disjointed, although there was no sign of the problems that would confront them before half-time. The catalyst for that burst of goals came in the 43rd minute when Delaney and Joe Ledley combined to allow Ndong to dispossess Ledley and beat Hennessey with a 25-yard shot.
Two minutes later, Defoe then showed why he remains one of the most effective strikers in the Premier League by collecting a pass from Adnan Januzaj, taking one touch and shooting across Hennessey for the third. Then in first-half added time, Januzaj was again the provider, this time from the righthand flank, and Defoe turned James Tomkins far too easily before adding his second. The game was effectively over. There would be no consolation for Allardyce’s side.