Sunderland were still in search of their first win of the season when The Hammers travelled to the Stadium of Light. A very strange pre-match atmosphere occurred, with the rumours of Advocaat quitting Sunderland in the coming days, along with Director of Football Lee Congerton. A side that altered slightly from the recent XI’s we’ve seen, with Yedlin, handed his first start at right back, and Billy Jones switching to left back.
Sunderland started the game very brightly, controlling most of the possession and restricting a strong West Ham side to mainly defending. A number of yellow cards were produced during the game, with Mark Noble being the first to receive when he clipped the heels of Ola Toivonen when the Swede was breaking forward.
While being good on the ball, The Black Cats were very wary of the famous West Ham counter attack, that has already taken down 3 Premier League giants so far this season. Then something happened. Borini was running towards the corner flag when a needless push from Jenkinson gave The Black Cats a decent chance. With M’Vila over the ball, receiving instructions from Lee Cattermole, Fletched dispersed himself from the crowd in the box and started his run from the back to the front of the box. A training ground move played to absolute perfection, saw Fletcher receive the ball from M’Vila and smash the ball into the net.
All of Sunderland’s front 3 were interlinking very well, with a number of runs through the defence nearly cracking West Ham for a second time. But the next crowd-pleasing play saw Payet try and feed a ball through to Sakho, only for excellent defensive work from O’Shea and Coates to stop the strong looking move. Borini, continuing in the excellent fashion he started the game, made a darting run through the defence, only to be knocked down when colliding with James Tomkins, but no penalty given.
However, the rejection of this penalty appeal didn’t stop the Black Cats, when just a minute later, a poor pass in the West Ham defence saw Sunderland’s attackers eyes lighten up. Lens tackled successfully, with the ball going straight to M’Vila, who fed the Dutchman through the defence. Lens spotted West Ham ‘keeper Adrian off his line and perfectly dinked the ball over him, which clipped off the bar before landing in the West Ham net.
Centre-half John O’Shea nearly added a third for Sunderland from a corner, before Lens fired an audacious left-footed volley over the bar. Jeremain Lens then became the first Black Cat to be in the book following a reckless tackle on Aaron Cresswell. Cresswell then got his own back on the Sunderland winger and followed him into the book.
Fabio Borini should have put Sunderland 3 in front when he ran onto Fletchers flick and was 1-on-1 with Adrian. But sadly, the Sunderland attacker put the ball less than a foot outside of the post, but really should have buried it before half-time. Borini again nearly scored, with a powerful right-footed shot from 20 yards, which again went just the wrong side of the post.
Unfortunately for Sunderland, good teams punish you. 3 Sunderland defenders failed to stop Victor Moses from getting his cross in, but the ball landed at the feet of the arriving Jenkinson, for the full-back to net the ball from 12-yards just before half time. Half-time came for Sunderland as they lead 2-1 but really should have been 3-0.
The first chance of the second half came from Dimitri Payet when the Frenchman stood over a free-kick from 22-yards out. Thankfully, the ball went straight to Pantilimon, leaving the Romanian with an easy stop. The feisty game continued with Borini and Jenkinson having digs at each other, but neither booked.
Out of nowhere, Lanzini popped up with the ball 20-yards out, and similarly to Borini’s second chance, put the ball just the wrong side of Pantilimon’s goal, much to the delight of the Romanian giant. Then came the turning point. Lens, who’d already been booked, lost the ball to Reid, so decided to needlessly hack Reid down with a scissor tackle on the halfway line. Referee Swarbrick had no choice but to send the Sunderland man for an early bath. A ridiculous decision from Lens that made things even tougher for the Black Cats.
Just 4 minutes after the red card, the West Ham leveller came. Lazini fired a shot in from outside of the box, just for Pantilimon to flap the ball down, leaving Payet with an easy finish. Very poor goalkeeping from a man who seems to have forgotten how to catch the ball. Jelavic should have put West Ham in front for the first time, but fluffed his shot, just before Noble should have been following Lens. Noble, who had already been booked, needlessly blocked off Borini close to the way line, but Swarbrick decided to keep his cards in his pocket. Definitely seen them given before, a number of times.
Good defending from both Coates and O’Shea ensured that West Ham didn’t get another clear chance at goal. Jelavic did get a chance inside stoppage-time, but the attacker placed his header wide.
A very good first half from The Black Cats but they were unable to capitalise on their good work and came away with just their 3rd point of the season.
FT: Sunderland 2-2 West Ham
Scorers: Fletcher (10′), Lens (23′) – Jenkinson (45+1′), Payet (60′)
Lineups:
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Yedlin, O’Shea, Coates, Jones, M’Vila (Gomez), Cattermole, Lens, Toivonen (Larsson), Borini, Fletcher (Rodwell).
West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid (Collins), Cresswell, Kouyate, Noble (Zarate), Lanzini, Payet, Moses (Jelavic), Sakho.
Match Rating: 8/10
Attendance: 42,932.
