An 80th-minute red card for Southampton’s captain Jose Fonte, a strike from Jermain Defoe to break the deadlock, and a late goal in stoppage time from 10-man Southampton, provided an exciting second half at St Mary’s stadium this afternoon. However, Sam Allardyce’s substitutes proved to have given the game the biggest impact on the game, for better and for worse.
Despite being in front with one minute to go on the clock, substitute John O’shea got overturned inside the box by Southampton’s central defender Virgil Van Dijk to clinch a clear strike on goal for the share of the spoils. A costly mistake to overshadow, what looked to be the most important goal of the Sunderland’s season. As the Black Cats are in full stride in a three-horse race to decide who is going to be relegated, a draw to Southampton could prove costly, for a game that should have been well and truly buried.
Here is how we rated the performance of each Sunderland player:
