Sunderland 1-1 Swansea
Jermain Defoe 62Bafetimbi Gomis 45 +2:07
The good news for Sunderland’s players is that they showed sufficient spirit to be individually “high-fived” by Dick Advocaat as they trudged off against a soundtrack of mild applause.
Real encouragement was contained in two fine individual performances on the part of new signings Jeremain Lens and Yann M’Vila but there is a caveat. Sunderland only ended up with a point – their first of the season – and the way in which they were forced to strain every sinew to achieve it hints at a long relegation struggle ahead.
Playing slightly within themselves Swansea were not the vibrant ensemble who rocked José Mourinho’s world a couple of weeks ago, although Garry Monk will probably be reasonably satisfied with this extension of their unbeaten start to the campaign.
His side broke the impasse on the brink of half time. Kyle Naughton’s slick pass played in Bafétimbi Gomis who held off Sebastián Coates before beating Costel Pantilimon courtesy of a low, angled right-foot shot from 12 yards.
Until then, Patrick van Aanholt, a liability at left-back in Sunderland’s previous two games, had been much improved but, by allowing himself to be distracted by André Ayew, he consequently afforded Naughton ample room in which to advance. As the right-back celebrated Gomis’s third goal in as many games Van Aanholt, Coates and company stared fixedly at the ground.
Advocaat, meanwhile, stood with hands on hips as the energy drained from a previously loud home crowd. They had cheered their team’s rediscovered fight – although Lee Cattermole, inevitably, could have done without collecting a booking for scything unnecessarily into the back of Ayew – while politely turning a blind eye to Sunderland’s penchant for rather obvious final passes.
Granted Lens enjoyed some encouraging creative moments but, overall, his lack of imagination ensured that Monk’s mobile defence were rarely overstretched on a day when Swansea’s attacking departments were not quite at their recent best. That was partly down to M’Vila’s excellence in central midfield for Advocaat’s side, the Rubin Kazan loanee looking a cut above certain team-mates.
Further back John O’Shea’s restoration to central defence in the place of the injured Younès Kaboul offered Sunderland increased stability. Coates though lived dangerously at the start of the second half when he was booked for bringing Montero down right on the edge of the area. The ensuing free kick came to nothing but the Uruguayan was literally only a couple of inches from conceding a penalty.
After his demolition of Chelsea’s and then Newcastle United’s defence in the past couple of weeks Montero seemed a little jaded, although much of the credit for his subdued state should do to Billy Jones and his intelligent incision at right-back for Sunderland.
Jermain Defoe had also been a bit quiet in his less-than-preferred wide role in Advocaat’s front three but cutting in he read Lens’s through pass to perfection before evading Lukasz Fabianski with a perfectly weighted low, right-foot shot into the bottom corner.
That equaliser came at the end of a counter-attack initiated by the uber-industrious Danny Graham. Furious at being caught cold, Swansea redoubled their attacking efforts with the influential Jonjo Shelvey driving them forward at every opportunity.
Yet although it took a brilliant save by Pantilimon to deny Gomis a second goal following the striker’s headed connection with a Montero cross, Monk’s players had begun to leave gaps at the back – and Lens had started to really have some fun.
Guardian
