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Post by Football News on Mar 5, 2016 17:50:36 GMT
Southampton 1 - 1 SunderlandSunderland suffer with Virgil van Dijk grabbing Southampton a point Home team scorersVirgil van Dijk 90 +2:45 Away team scorersJermain Defoe 85 Following a dreadful few days for Sunderland, it was back to the football, and Sam Allardyce’s side took a late lead courtesy of a late Jermain Defoe strike shortly after Southampton had been reduced to 10 men. Despite a frantic rearguard action, they were unable to hang on and Virgil van Djik rescued a point for his side well past the 90-minute mark. This was two points dropped, rather than one gained for the visitors, but, at a ground where they suffered the humiliation of losing 8-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, it was revenge of sorts. Defeats elsewhere for fellow relegation battlers Newcastle and Norwich City made it all the sweeter. A combination of injuries and disappointment prompted Ronald Koeman to make five changes to the Southampton side that lost to Bournemouth in midweek, with Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pellè filling in for the injured Shane Long and Charlie Austin. In midfield, Steven Davis also returned after recovering from a knock. Sam Allardyce’s hand was also forced, with John O’Shea, the captain, confined to the bench with a calf strain and Lee Cattermole missing out through a concussion. Fabio Borini’s late equaliser against Crystal Palace earned him a start at the expense of Defoe. The early exchanges were cautious, with little of note happening until the eighth minute, when the unmarked Pellè flung himself at a sweet Davis delivery from the corner, only to miss the ball with his heavily gelled head. Moments later, Southampton won another corner, with Wahbi Khazri prompting laughter around all four sides of St Mary’s for kicking a ball he had incorrectly – according to the linesman – presumed to have gone out for a throw-in high into an away end packed with 2,250 Sunderland fans. Moments later, Khazri was in the thick of the action again, appearing to be harshly penalised and booked for a foul on Sadio Mané. From the free-kick, Ryan Bertrand whipped over the bar from a tight angle. In an opening half hour memorable mainly for the bitterness of the south coast cold, Sunderland created little to warm the cockles. After 22 minutes Borini escaped down the right, only for his low, angled drive to be blocked by an excellent covering tackle from the speedy Van Djik. Soon afterwards, Southampton ought to have gone ahead, foiled by an excellent Vito Mannone save after Tadic had reacted quickly to power a Pellè knockdown goalwards. Just after the half-hour, Mannone’s opposite number was called into something resembling urgent action. With a Khazri free-kick from wide threatening to drift in at the top left-hand corner, a furiously back-pedalling Fraser Forster did well to palm the goal-bound effort on to his cross-bar. Alone on the wing, the Tunisia international clutched his head with both hands in frustration. Close, but no cigar. Towards the end of an increasingly entertaining first half, Van Dijk went close for the hosts, powering a near-post header into the hands of Mannone from a corner. Subsequent calls for a Southampton penalty after DeAndre Yedelin appeared to block a cross with his hand fell on deaf ears, with the American defender putting on a show of checking the front teeth he claimed had stopped the ball for injury. The cold of the first half was augmented by torrential rain early in the second, although the deluge failed to dampen the enthusiasm of an astonishingly vocal visiting support. As the downpour eased off, Jack Rodwell had them out of their seats but his low effort failed to trouble Forster. Rising to the spirit of *****-for-tat in which much of the game was played, Oriel Romeu promptly galloped up the pitch and sent the ball fizzing inches over from 20-yards. A near-post Romeu flick through the corridor of uncertainty that is the edge of the six-yard box at a subsequent corner could scarcely have been more inviting, but there were no takers. As the game entered its final 20 minutes, it was Southampton who were enjoying superiority as their visitors sat deep on the back foot defending in two narrow banks of four. It was, however, Southampton’s Jose Fonté who was forced into an act of desperation, the Portuguese earning a straight red card for bringing down Borini as he chased a through ball to the edge of the penalty area. From the subsequent free-kick, Patrick van Aanholt brought a very smart save out of Forster. Cue: Defoe. With his team on a rare sortie into Southampton territory, Lamine Koné pounced on a knockdown from Jan Kirchoff in the penalty, evaded one tackle and squared for Defoe to prod home from seven yards and prompt scenes of unbridled jubilation in front of the away end. They were short-lived – Southampton huffed and puffed relentlessly before eventually blowing the Sunderland house down as the excellent Van Dijk found himself unmarked in the Sunderland penalty area and fired home deep in injury time. It was no more than his team deserved. Guardian
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