Sunderland 3-0 Everton: Premier League – as it happened via The Guardian
Sunderland, energetic and effervescent against a miserable Everton, secured their Premier League status at the expense of Norwich City and neighbours Newcastle United.
9.41pm BST
The final whistle blows! The Stadium of Light bursts with relief and celebration! Sunderland are deserved winners tonight, and on the basis of their late-season form, deserved Premier League survivors! They’ve sent Norwich City and, of all teams, Newcastle United down to the Championship with Aston Villa! A big smile plays across Sam Allardyce’s face. One can only wonder why. “This is really nice, it’s like winning a title,” smiles Jan Kirchhoff. Congratulations to the Black Cats, and commiserations to Newcastle and Norwich, who will be feeling heartbroken tonight.
9.39pm BST
90 min +5: Mirallas chips over Mannone from the edge of the box, but the ball bounces wide left. Just. Everton have been awful tonight, but they could have had two or three in added time!
9.38pm BST
90 min +4: Everton’s evening of woe continues. First Mirallas sends a shot towards the top right from the edge of the box. Mannone tips it round for a corner, a wonder save. And from the set piece, the ball falls to the feet of Lukaku, six yards out, but he twangs the crossbar like a bass guitar. E, the lowest, most satisfying note.
9.36pm BST
90 min +3: … Osman sends a free close-range header inexplicably wide left. It would have been a consolation Everton’s overall performance doesn’t deserve.
9.35pm BST
90 min +2: Space for Mirallas down the right. He earns a corner, from which …
9.34pm BST
90 min +1: There will be five added minutes as a result of goal celebrations, substitutions, and tanked-up punters roaring around the place with their junk out. The first sees Lukaku have a pop from distance, but no dice.
9.33pm BST
90 min: Defoe goes skittering after a long hoof down the left. He enters the box, and should probably feed Watmore, free on his left, but drops a shoulder and has a go himself. Defoe tries to nutmeg Robles at his near post, which normally would qualify as beyond-the-pale cheek against a Premier League professional, but, well, y’know.
9.32pm BST
89 min: “I live over a mile away from the Stadium of Light,” begins David Inglesby’s report. “The noise in the house from there is deafening!” And no wonder. Their team have been, to a man, brilliant tonight. An exceptional performance.
9.30pm BST
87 min: Not much going on now. The Sunderland fans entertain themselves by serenading Newcastle United. “I hope the West Ham fans don’t crash the internet with their congratulations to Big Sam,” writes Steve Goldsmith. It’s a love-in, this, all right.
9.29pm BST
85 min: … and then Watmore comes on for Khazri. A warm round of applause for Khazri, who has been energetic and entertaining tonight.
9.28pm BST
84 min: It’s time for a couple of curtain calls. Cleverley is replaced by Osman…
9.27pm BST
82 min: A lull as some tanked-up punter roars around the field with his junk out. Perhaps. They’re not showing his act on TV, so he could be up to anything.
9.24pm BST
80 min: Pennington, out on the left, sends a safe cross out of play, miles to the right of the Sunderland goal. No blue shirts nearby, no danger. Sunderland fans will be counting no chickens yet. But having said that, the tension has eased to the point where Everton are cat-called mercilessly for the all-round low quality of that attack.
9.21pm BST
78 min: Sam Allardyce is taking no chances, despite the 3-0 scoreline and Everton’s flaccid impotence. Cattermole, on a booking, is hooked in favour of John O’Shea. He hands over the captain’s armband as he departs.
9.20pm BST
77 min: Lennon and Barry combine down the right to release Cleverley into the area. The midfielder should shoot, but dallies, attempts a pointless one-two with Lukaku, and sees his eventual attempt for goal squirt off to the left. A corner, which is wasted.
9.18pm BST
75 min: Khazri, on the the left-hand corner of the Everton box, loops a gorgeous cross to Van Aanholt, bombing in from the right. The full back shapes to sidefoot back across for Defoe, who would have a close-range tap-in, but takes his eye off the ball and doesn’t connect. Goal kick. That would have been an aesthetic delight.
9.16pm BST
73 min: And now a revived Lukaku glides in from the right and attempts a curler towards the top left. The ball breaks off Kone’s back and out for a corner. From the set piece, Barry heads goalwards from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, but it’s straight at Mannone, who handles well. Everton have perked up a bit, which is the very least they could do. For large chunks of this match, they’ve been a limp embarrassment to a famous old club.
9.14pm BST
71 min: Baines loops a ball down the inside-left channel for Lukaku, who works a little bit of space for a shot by the corner of the D. It’s blocked immediately.
9.12pm BST
70 min: Kirchhoff is replaced by Sebastian Larsson. The substitution eats up a lot of the clock, a masterclass in professional time management. A dispirited Everton are unlikely to complain too much. They’ll just want this to end too.
9.11pm BST
68 min: Cattermole is booked for a slide on Lennon, 30 yards out. Mirallas sends a free kick towards Funes Mori, on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. The defender should score, but clanks his header straight at Mannone, who turns the ball round the post for a corner. From the set piece, Baines sends a weak daisycutter straight at Mannone from distance. A little bit of much-missed passion from Everton, though it’s all far too late.
9.09pm BST
66 min: Van Aanholt charges down the left wing. He slips a pass inside for Defoe, on the edge of the box, to the left of the D. The ball gets caught up between Defoe’s feet, but the striker sorts himself out in double-quick time and fires a no-backlift buzzer towards the top left. Robles for once does the professional thing and parries clear.
9.07pm BST
64 min: Mind you, that shouldn’t take away from Sunderland’s whirlwind brilliance tonight. They’ve been wonderful in attack, and the defence has come up trumps on the rare occasions they’ve been called into action. Baines swings a free kick into the area from the left, and it’s headed clear with purpose by Kaboul.
9.06pm BST
62 min: Lennon tries to combine with Lukaku down the right, but the striker’s lazy ball inside to absolutely nobody brings a rare Everton attack to an embarrassing end. Roberto Martinez is on very shaky ground now. It’s one thing losing the head in a Merseyside derby, or being outplayed by the new Premier League champions. But they’re getting bossed, comprehensively, by a team who have only just avoided relegation.
9.03pm BST
60 min: Defoe breaks into the Everton box down the left, but faffs around and falls over, allowing Funes Mori to wander off with the ball. It’s a party atmosphere in the Stadium of Light, and Everton don’t appear equipped to poop it.
9.02pm BST
58 min: Everton are in tatters. First Defoe very nearly breaks clear again down the right. He’s denied, but soon enough Khazri is bombing down the left, clear, one on one with the keeper. He unselfishly slides the ball right to Defoe, but plays the ball into the backtracking Funes Mori, who hacks out for a corner that leads to nothing. Meanwhile it’s 4-2 to poor Norwich, who have located the team’s bag of scoring boots far too late.
9.00pm BST
Khazri very nearly sends a curling corner into the top left. Robles punch-flaps the ball off the line, but only into the back of McCarthy, standing just in front of the post. The ball breaks to Kone in the middle, and he batters home from a couple of yards. What a goalkeeping display this is. What a farce Everton’s defence is. But hats off to Sunderland, who are grabbing their chance of Premier League safety with both hands!
8.57pm BST
54 min: Everton have hit the 70% possession mark again, enjoying the lion’s share at the start of the half. Much good it looks like doing them, as Yedlin springs Defoe clear down the inside-right channel with a simple long ball. Defoe lobs the outrushing Robles, only for Pennington to hook clear off the line. Corner on the left, from which …
8.56pm BST
51 min: Stones over-elaborates in the middle of his own half and very nearly allows Defoe to race off with the ball. He’s still got a fair bit to learn, hasn’t he. Meanwhile at the exercise in futility being played out at Carrow Road, Watford have pulled a goal back: it’s now only 3-2 to Norwich, Odion Ighalo with the latest there.
8.53pm BST
49 min: A Khazri free kick from the right is eyebrowed across the face of goal by Barry and out for a corner on the left. Khazri takes that set piece too, and his corner finds the head of Kirchhoff, six yards out. Kirchhoff should score, but his weak header flashes wide right of goal. There’s no sense that this game will end 2-0. None whatsoever. Sunderland would take it now, of course, with both hands. It’ll still be a long 41 minutes plus stoppages.
8.50pm BST
47 min: Kaboul is penalised for nipping away at Lukaku’s heels as the pair contest a ball down the Everton inside-right channel. The resulting free kick is hooked towards the left-hand post, where Barry heads back for Pennington, who tries to steer a header into the top left. It’s not a bad effort, the young man battling in the middle of a packed box, but there’s not enough steam behind it, and Mannone plucks it from the sky.
8.48pm BST
To the dispassionate neutral, given the mental fragility of Everton right now, this relegation battle looks all over. But it’s never quite that simple, is it. “You said Sunderland are 45 competent minutes from survival,” begins Austin Baird, “but to all Sunderland fans that brings a wry smile to our lips. We all know: if anybody can screw this up it’ll be Sunderland. Been there, done that.” Fair point, well made. It’ll be a long 45 minutes, then, one way or another. Here we go! Sunderland get the ball rolling for the second half; Everton have replaced Barkley with Lennon.
8.36pm BST
Half-time reading: Oh Joel!
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8.34pm BST
And that’s that for the first half. Unless something very strange happens to both Sunderland and Everton in the second half, the Black Cats are staying up! It’s the worst possible news for Newcastle United and Norwich City, the latter now 3-1 up at home to Watford. Van Aanholt punches the air as he makes his way to the changing room; you can be sure Sam Allardyce will tell him that the job’s not yet done. But it is half done. Sunderland are 45 competent minutes from survival!
8.30pm BST
44 min: Passionate brilliance from Sunderland there. “Are you watching, Newcastle?” the crowd ask the supporters of Allardyce’s former club. Meanwhile, even by Everton’s recent standards, this is a lame capitulation.
8.29pm BST
Khazri’s free kick, high from the right, finds the head of Defoe, who flashes a header towards the top right. Robles goes some way to atoning for his horrendous error by fingertipping over the bar. But it’s all in vain. At the corner, there’s some head tennis. Baines looks to have cleared Everton’s lines, but the ball’s returned by M’Vila down the inside-left channel. Stones is deep, playing Kone onside, and the defender
roofs a shot into the net from close range. Premier League survival is tangible now! The Stadium of Light is
rocking!
8.26pm BST
40 min: Everton are suddenly rocking. Yedlin and Borini combine down the right, but the latter can’t find Defoe in the box with his low cross. A second phase of attack down the same flank sees Mirallas clatter Borini from behind. Free kick. From which…
8.24pm BST
Cattermole feeds Defoe down the middle. Defoe takes a touch, left to right, and is upended by Funes Mori. A free kick, 25 yards out, level with the right-hand post. Van Aanholt takes, and … this is absurd! Van Aanholt hits a fairly tame low free kick to the left of the wall. Robles jumps behind the wall, and lets the ball nestle into the left-hand side of the net! Appalling goalkeeping, but Sunderland won’t care! As things stand, they’re staying up, and they’re sending Newcastle United down with Norwich!
8.22pm BST
36 min: And again! This time it’s McCarthy looping a ball down the inside-right channel. Lukaku looks to have the power to burst past Kaboul, but Mannone comes out of his area again to clear. It’s a risky business, this.
8.21pm BST
34 min: Lukaku very nearly spins round Van Aanholt as the ball flies down the right wing. Fortunately for Sunderland, the full back sticks to his man like glue. Had he been given the slip, Lukaku would be running clear on goal. The crowd are beginning to get a little anxious, even though this sort of stuff is happening halfway up the pitch. Sunderland are taking risks with this high line.
8.18pm BST
33 min: Mirallas, having switched wings, embarks on a high-paced solo skitter down the left. He eventually runs out of room, but only after being swarmed by three red-and-white shirts. For a second, he threatened to break clear into a lot of space. Sunderland hearts were in mouths. But then, the nervous tension is such right now that it doesn’t take much.
8.16pm BST
31 min: Van Aanholt is down getting a little treatment on his knee, having been accidentally clattered in a 50-50 with Pennington. He’s limping a bit when he gets up, but in that manner which suggests everything will be OK.
8.15pm BST
29 min: Everton, having been quiet for a few minutes, have sprung back into life. Now Barkley makes himself a little time out on the left, cutting inside and curling a dangerous ball towards the far post. He’s expecting Lukaku to be making a powerful run, but the big man isn’t doing that. The ball squeaks out to the right of the goal, Mannone waving his arms in the nonchalant fashion, always in control, honest.
8.13pm BST
28 min: Cleverley, in the centre circle, scoops a pass down the middle that very nearly releases Mirallas clear on goal. The Everton winger is denied by Mannone, who scampers from his area and lashes the ball clear. A lovely pass, though.
8.11pm BST
26 min: A lot of aimless hoofing, representing something of a lull.
8.10pm BST
24 min: Kaboul, of all people, turns into Garrincha. He twists and turns down the left wing, then steps inside the Everton area and, faced with a tight angle, rips a high-paced curler across Robles and towards the top right. It flies inches wide, an excellent effort. The keeper was beaten all ends up. That would have been a beauty.
8.09pm BST
23 min: Sunderland are beginning to play Everton at their own game: they’ve turned around the possession stats, having enjoyed 60% of the ball in the last five minutes. Everton are beginning to sit very deep. “Sunderland may be nervous,” begins Lou Roper, “but what has Everton’s excuse been? Mr Martinez seems a pleasant and knowledgeable fellow but the performances of his team have been shambolic. With whom to replace him, though? Rafael Benitez: predicting a) Newcastle will go down and b) he won’t be keen on ‘the Championship’ (TM Lord Mawhinney).”
8.07pm BST
21 min: Van Aanholt has a bit of space down the left, but decides to blooter the ball into the stand behind the goal. In the dugout, Sam Allardyce slumps back in his seat, pleasure very much an alien concept right now.
8.06pm BST
20 min: It’s on a rolling boil at Carrow Road, though. Dieumerci Mbokani has made it 2-1 to Norwich! So safety is still a possibility as things stand. A few more twists and turns await us tonight, I’ll be bound.
8.05pm BST
19 min: Sunderland finally get something going up front. Borini has a snapshot from the edge of the D that’s closed down. Khazri tries to burst into the box down the left, but can’t get an effort away. Yedlin earns a corner on the right, from which Kaboul sends a fairly harmless header straight at Robles. It’s hotting up nicely.
8.03pm BST
17 min: It’s all happening, Danny Boon style, at Carrow Road, where Nathan Redmond has equalised for Norwich. They’re still going down, as they need a win, but this is where we all area. Meanwhile back on Wearside, Lukaku cuts in from the Everton right but can’t quite work space to shoot as he enters the box. Kaboul and Van Aanholt usher him away.
8.01pm BST
15 min: A bit of head tennis outside the Everton area. Something for the home fans to get excited about. It all comes to naught, and then Khazri slides in recklessly on Barry. He’s the second Sunderland player fortunate to escape a booking.
7.59pm BST
13 min: Troy Deeney has scored for Watford at Norwich, who are going down as things stand. Meanwhile at the Stadium of Light, Funes Mori plays a hospital pass back to his keeper. Robles does extremely well to hack clear under extreme pressure from the sliding Defoe. Funes Mori still in Liability Mode after his inexplicable Anfield meltdown, it would seem.
7.57pm BST
11 min: More Evertonian possession. They’ve had 70% of it so far. A lot of whistling as accompaniment. Sunderland can’t get out of their final third, with Everton stroking it around this way and that. But the home team are holding firm in the middle, and Everton can’t work an opening.
7.55pm BST
9 min: Barry, deep on the left, swings a diagonal ball into the box. The young defender Pennington, haring down the right wing and making it into the area, rises to guide a header towards the top left from 12 yards. It’s not a bad effort, if a touch high and wide. Not a million miles away, and for a nanosecond it caused Mannone to turn round and check the flight in concern. Had that been on target, it may well have beaten the keeper. It would have been some header, mind.
7.53pm BST
7 min: Borini, tight on the right, plays a lovely threaded ball inside for Defoe, who in turn attempts to release Van Aanholt down the left with a diagonal chip. Defoe doesn’t quite get his angles correct, and the chance to spring Everton’s back line on the left wing is gone. But that’s the first bit of proper football from Sunderland tonight.
7.51pm BST
6 min: Everton are enjoying quite a lot of the ball, but doing very little with it. Plus ça change, some Goodison regulars will sigh. Sunderland meanwhile are looking a little edgy. Early days for everyone.
7.50pm BST
4 min: Cattermole comes straight through the back of Barkley in the centre circle. He should be booked for that, but the referee is in lenient mood. The notoriously hot-headed Sunderland midfielder will need to simmer down.
7.48pm BST
3 min: Yedlin and Khazri attempt to combine down the right wing, but the ball’s never in anybody’s total control. Sunderland have yet to settle. They’re looking understandably hectic. Maybe it’s nerves.
7.47pm BST
2 min: Barkley, in the centre circle, plays a first-time pass down the inside-right channel with a view to releasing Mirallas on goal. The flag goes up for offside. It’s the correct decision, just, though Sunderland were playing a dangerous game with their high line: there really wasn’t much in that. Mirallas would have been clear on goal.
7.46pm BST
To the sound of a tumultuous roar, Everton get the ball rolling. The home fans belt out a cry of “We are staying up.” The visitors play the ball back towards their own box. Funes Mori attempts to thread a pass up the left wing for Cleverley, but knocks it out of play. Sunderland are pressing hard, in the modern style.
7.44pm BST
The teams are out! Sunderland in their famous red and white stripes, Everton wearing their equally storied blue. It’s a belting atmosphere at the Stadium of Light, as you’d expect for such a big game. We’ll be off in a minute!
7.39pm BST
Sam Allardyce speaks! “We hope to get it done tonight. It’s a huge game, we’ve put ourselves in a position after our tremendous comeback against Chelsea. But we won’t take anything for granted against anyone. We have a lot of good attacking players, we can attack with flair and cause problems, but our defending will have to be better than it was on Saturday. If we can expose their weaknesses, as we saw Leicester do at the weekend, we’ll get a chance to win. The players must hit their best form, the same level of performance as they did on Saturday. Everton are slightly wounded with the criticism they’ve received, so I think they’ll come out determined to show what they can do. We’ll have to be on top form to beat them tonight. I haven’t started thinking about survival. If I start doing that, you never know what’s going to turn your way. Let’s hope it’ll be a great night. Let’s do all we possibly can.”
7.34pm BST
Roberto Martinez speaks! “We always react well. We all know what Sunderland are playing for, but every point matters for the final position in the league table, and our approach matters. We have to start really well. The game will be played at a real tempo, with the home crowd playing a large part in their victory against Chelsea. Gareth Barry’s experience and know-how is important. Funes Mori gives us good balance at the back. It’s important to have fresh legs and fresh minds.” He doesn’t look particularly happy, the poor chap. A defeated look in the eyes. Tired. Running on fumes. It could be a big week at Goodison if these final two matches don’t go well.
7.31pm BST
A word on Norwich, who host Watford tonight. They need to beat the Hornets at Carrow Road this evening to have any chance of surviving. Not an impossible task, you’d have thought, seeing their mid-table opponents will already have dug the fluffiest beach towels out of the cupboard in giddy anticipation. However, City have failed to score in their last four games, losing the lot, so good luck with that. “Tonight is really important, we want to make sure we take it to the last day,” says Alex Neil. “Hopefully Everton can do us a turn, and get us a result as well.” Just to clarify: if Norwich fail to win, they’re down whatever Sunderland do tonight. If they’re to stay up, they’ll need to beat Everton on Sunday as well, while hoping Sunderland only gain a maximum of one point from Everton tonight and Watford on Sunday. (Let’s assume Norwich won’t make up a goal-difference deficit of ten.) A lot of Everton and Watford action in there, making for confusing reading. Thankfully you already know what’s going on, or I’d be in a whole world of trouble. Forget I brought the subject up.
7.14pm BST
Sunderland’s MO, then, well established through the years, is to faff around in the drop zone for the majority of the season before clambering out just before the day of reckoning. This week’s Knowledge reports on the yin to their yang: the clubs who manage to stay out of the relegation places all season, only to haplessly drop into them at the very last minute. Oops!
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6.58pm BST
Chelsea might have been something of a shower this season, by their own lofty standards, but whichever way you spin it, they were the defending champions. And at the weekend, Sunderland came from behind, at a point when things began to look very dark indeed, to beat them rather gloriously. No changes to the team, then.
Everton definitely have shower-related issues right now, to the point where a fair old chunk of the support wants shot of Roberto Martinez. Two matches to save his job? Possibly. With a desperate battle in mind, the manager recalls Ramiro Funes Mori and Gareth Barry, who are back from suspension and injury respectively. The pair take the places of Bryan Oviedo and Aaron Lennon, who started the dismal defeat at the new champs Leicester City. Kevin Mirallas is also back in the starting XI, at the expense of the currently misfiring £13.5m striker Oumar Niasse.
6.47pm BST
Sunderland: Mannone, Yedlin, Kone, Kaboul, Van Aanholt, Kirchhoff, Borini, Cattermole, M’Vila, Khazri, Defoe.
Subs: Jones, Larsson, Rodwell, N’Doye, Pickford, O’Shea, Watmore.
Everton: Robles, Stones, Pennington, Funes Mori, Baines, McCarthy, Barry, Mirallas, Barkley, Cleverley, Lukaku.
Subs: Gibson, Oviedo, Lennon, Niasse, Besic, Osman, Howard.
10.44am BST
It’s easy to forget just how much bother Sunderland were in. At the end of 2015, having been defeated five times in a row, the Black Cats were in a black funk. They were second from bottom in the Premier League table, just four points ahead of a risible Aston Villa, five shy of neighbours Newcastle United, and seven short of safety. This time, surely, they were for the off.
Ah, but give Sam Allardyce time to do his thing. The subsequent turnaround hasn’t been spectacular, but it has been steady. Allardyce has transformed Sunderland from serial losers into a team who are hard to beat. Since the start of February, when they were extremely unfortunate to lose at home to Manchester City, the Mackems have only tasted defeat twice. And one of those matches was against Leicester City, who have been the boss of
absolutely everyone. It’s been an admirable sequence.
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