Sunderland 2-0 StokeHome team scorersPatrick Van Aanholt 82
Duncan Watmore 84
Sam Allardyce says he is hearing “far too much talk about Duncan Watmore” at the moment but much more of this and the Sunderland manager’s only option will be to buy earplugs.
From the moment he stepped off the bench the England Under-21 forward cum Wearside supersub illuminated a previously monochrome game while disconcerting a previously comfortable Stoke City.
It was a foul on Watmore which led to Ryan Shawcross’s dismissal early in the second half and the same bundle of attacking energy deservedly scored Sunderland’s excellent second goal after Patrick van Aanholt’s free-kick had broken the impasse.
Partly thanks to Watmore’s contribution Stoke’s European aspirations were left looking a little, well, ambitious as Sunderland climbed out of the bottom three after recording their third Premier League win of the season.
Allardyce road-tested his new look 3-5-2 formation in a home game for the first time but, ignoring the familiarity of their surrounds, Sunderland initially operated more like an away team.
Happy to sit back and let Stoke have the ball in certain areas of the pitch, their gameplan was all about attempting to undo Mark Hughes’s players on the counterattack.
This policy very nearly paid dividends when one such break resulted in some fancy footwork from Sebastian Larsson creating an inviting chance for Jermain Defoe. As the former England striker’s shot from the edge of the area whizzed inches past a post, relief was writ large on visiting faces.
Hughes’s own expression was already somewhat strained. His players simply could not find a way to deconstruct Allardyce’s five-man backline, let alone threaten Costel Pantilimon. A wayward, highly speculative 25-yard shot unleashed by Bojan Krkic seemed emblematic of a team traversing the border between frustration and desperation.
Yet if the lack of width afforded by their rather narrow 4-2-3-1 system was hardly helping Stoke’s cause, Pantilimon was at least forced into one key first-half intervention, doing well to deny Jonathan Walters from point-blank range with his legs just as the striker attempted to connect with a left-wing cross.
By now Defoe had hobbled off to be replaced by Watmore. If Hughes’s initially regarded this change as potential good news he would swiftly have changed his mind as the England Under-21 winger infused Sunderland with an energy so intense it could probably have powered the Stadium of Light’s floodlights.
Stoke’s defence certainly did not seem to relish Watmore running at them with the sort of high-speed skill and sheer persistence which led to him being dubbed “the Ginger Messi” at his old club, Altrincham.
Two minutes into the second half Shawcross collected his second yellow card of the afternoon after felling Watmore and Stoke were down to 10 men. With Sunderland finally upping their possession quota it was not long before Jack Butland assumed centre stage, the goalkeeper performing acrobatic wonders to repel Sebastian Coates’s header, tipping it over the bar following Jeremain Lens’s cross.
With Butland seemingly serving as a human magnet Sunderland looked as if they could have played until midnight without bypassing him. Attempting to change the narrative, Allardyce withdrew John O’Shea and introduced Adam Johnson as he switched to a back four.
It was to prove an inspired revamp. When Erik Pieters conceded a free-kick Van Aanholt’s blistering left-foot delivery proved too good for even Joe Hart’s greatest rival.
Butland’s disappointment will have been exacerbated by the fact that he had been minutes away from breaking a 45-year-old Stoke record set by Gordon Banks by keeping six consecutive clean sheets in away games.
Suddenly, though goals, like buses, were arriving all at once. When Pieters made a mess of a clearance, Watmore pounced, accelerating unerringly in on goal before lashing a low, angled shot into the bottom corner.
Guardian
