Last-gasp Van Dijk strike leaves Allardyce hurting
THE deep sigh and ragged look Sam Allardyce wore as he sunk into his chair in the press conference room at St Mary’s, tie skew-whiff and hands wrung, said it all.
‘You wouldn’t want my job right now,’ he remarked with good humour after watching his side throw away victory by conceding in the 93rd minute against 10-man Southampton.
‘I was looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day with my family, now I’ll be crying into my wine,’ he added. ‘I’m not going to be very happy, sadly and I hope I don’t take it out on my grandkids.’
Victory had seemed assured for Sunderland after substitute Jermain Defoe put them ahead in the 85th minute following the dismissal of Southampton captain Jose Fonte. But Virgil van Dijk popped up in injury time to rescue a point for Saints, denying Sunderland the chance to put a cushion between themselves and the drop zone.
‘To say it is a kick in the teeth is an understatement,’ said Allardyce. ‘I can’t explain how dejected we are and how much more difficult we’ve made our job to survive in the Premier League.
‘For the first time since I’ve been here we had the chance to go three points clear of the relegation zone and make it so if any of bottom teams win they can’t overtake us. We’ve thrown away that opportunity in a few seconds.’
Despite late disappointment, a point here coupled with defeat for relegation rivals Newcastle and Norwich might still help lift the gloom after a difficult week in light of the Adam Johnson trial.
Injuries to Republic of Ireland international Shane Long and January signing Charlie Austin meant Graziano Pelle, who has lately played like a man resigned to departing the South Coast, was one of five players recalled to Ronald Koeman’s starting XI.
Allardyce got a better return from another Italian, the out-of-favour Fabio Borini, who he brought back into his starting line-up.
Borini had described Southampton’s performances this season as fluctuating between ‘unbelievable’ and ‘beatable’. He must have sensed the latter applied and twice came within a whisker of getting the opener just after the break.
Sensing blood, Sam Allardyce summoned Defoe from the bench. After a storming start to the season, the veteran striker had scored only once in seven games before yesterday. But in vintage style he prodded home from eight yards after being put through by Lamine Kone. It was six minutes after Fonte had been shown a red card for hacking down Borini on the edge of the box.
However, deep into injury time a Ryan Bertrand ball found Dusan Tadic, who set up Van Dijk to carve space in the box to turn past Vito Mannone.