When does a draw feel like a defeat? Tonight, says Rob Hutchison</em>. ‘Yet we’re out of the bottom three for now. Feels like water slowly draining out of the bathtub, or death by a thousand cuts.’ Compare and contrast: Rob and Monsieur Salut, in his piece that will appear later at ESPN [now viewable at http://www.espnfc.com/club/sunderland/366/blog/post/2819708/deandre-yedlin-gives-finest-sunderland-display-vs-palace], broadly agreed on the man-by-man ratings, including a low-marking MOTM award for Yedlin …
Vito 6 edgy
Yedlin 7 enduring
Kone 6 lacklustre
O’Shea 6 unlucky
PVA 5 struggled
Kirchhoff 6 faded
M’Vila 5 laboured
Khazri 5 tardy
Rodwell 5 insufficient
N’Doye 5 scored
Defoe 5 offpace
Substitutes:
Catts 4 brief
Kaboul 5 nervy
Borini 7 STRIKE!
MOTM Yedlin, never stopped working but end product always lacking. Says it all if he was MOTM really.
Connor Wickham 8 predictable.