Monsieur Salut writes: most of us were prepared to settle for a win however it came and this one came in an uneven way. The first half was a nerve-jangling affair as Aston Villa tormented Sunderland’s defence and threatened two or three times to take the lead. Patrick van Aanholt’s deflected shot gave us a somewhat undeserved lead. Thereafter we improved, especially after half time when – with the exception of a well taken but sloppily conceded equaliser – we dominated. Jermain Defoe’s classily finished goals made the difference and gave Sunderland the H word we cannot stand. Pete Sixsmith will be back with his measured view; this is his instant seven-word verdict …
Jan 2 2016 Sunderland (1) 3 Aston Villa (1) 1 The old hands pulled us through this
Dec 30 2015 Sunderland 0 (0) Liverpool 1 (0): Better performance but the inexorable slide continues
Dec 26 2015 Man City 4 (3) Sunderland 1 (0): Drew second half; shame about the first
Dec 19 2015 Chelsea 3 (2) SAFC 1 (0) * Fought like tigers. Undone by woeful start
Dec 12 2015 SAFC 0 (0) Watford (1) 1 * Disappointingly insipid and cannot complain about result
Dec 5 2015 *Arsenal (1) 3 SAFC (1) 1: Deserved better but couldn’t take our chances
Nov 28 2015 SAFC (0) 2 Stoke City (0) 0 Totally unrecognisable from the last home game
Nov 23 2015 *Crystal Palace (0) 0 Sunderland (0) 1: Winning ugly but winning. Sam’s the Man*
Nov 7 2015: SAFC (0) 0 Southampton (0) 1 A truly dismal display that heralds relegation
Nov 1 2015: Everton (2) 6 SAFC (1) 2 The usual post-derby anti-climax knocks us flat or Quite clear why Advocaat decamped to Holland or The defending was like Halloween: absolutely frightening
Oct 25 2015: SAFC (1) 3 Newcastle United (0) 0 West Bromwich Albion Nothing better than the joy of six
Oct 17 2015: West Bromwich Albion (0) 1 SAFC (0) 0 * At least the pies were good quality to which Sixer adds Another Pantilimon error means still no win
Oct 3 2015: SAFC (2) 2 West Ham United (1) 2 Dick can be proud of his (?) players
September 26 2015: Manchester United (1) 3 SAFC (0) 0 Routine for United thanks to defensive errors
September 22 2015: League Cup: SAFC (0) 1 Manchester City (4) City’s brilliance aided by pathetic Sunderland defending or Defence horribly exposed by a rampant City or Not on the same planet as City
September 19 2015: AFC Bournemouth (2) 2 SAFC (0) 0 Couldn’t recover from a truly abysmal start
September 13 2015: SAFC (0) 0 Tottenham Hotpsur (0) 1 Vastly improved performance not reflected by result
August 29 2015: Aston Villa (2) 2 SAFC (1) 2 * M’Vila and Lens snatch a shaky point
August 25 2015: League Cup 2nd round: SAFC (3) 6 Exeter City (3) 3 Young hearts run free in second half
August 22 2015: SAFC (0) 1 Swansea City (1) 1 Gloom lifting after a more determined performance
August 15 2015: SAFC (0) 1 Norwich City (2) 3 I’ve seen some shockers in my time …
August 8 2015: Leicester City (3) 4 SAFC (0) 2 No encouragement to take from this shocker
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Really never thought I would write this, but I would say that, with the probable exception of m’vila, which goes without saying, our full backs were our best players.
By an absolute mile the best game Billy Jones has had for us (even better than the one he was suspended for) and PVA carried a genuine threat.
During the first half Jones even managed to control a ball with one touch and cross with the second (beating the first man) – does it get any better?
I thought it was comfortable, they did score a spectaculat goal, which made me think ” Oh no here we go again” but the response was quick and positive. Brown did the business and we were rarely under pressure in what was supposed to be a win at all cost game. Villa were poor but 3-1 is always a good win. What were the yellow cards about at the final whistle?
One of the Villa players pushed Lee Cattermole with two hands about the shoulders and Catts reacted. They went head to head and Catts was restrained by O’Shea I think it was. Handbags to coin a cliche but it might have resulted in a punch up had others not been quick to pull them apart.
Phew!