Crystal Palace vs. Sunderland: Score, Grades and Reaction from League Game

Sunderland grabbed a much-needed three points in the Premier League on Monday night when they beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park.

Striker Steven Fletcher scored twice either side of Jordi Gomez’s precise long-range strike to secure the win for Gus Poyet’s side, ultimately rendering substitute Wes Brown’s comical own goal nothing more than a mild embarrassment as Palace succumbed to a hugely disappointing home defeat.

For Neil Warnock’s side there was further frustration toward the end, with captain Mile Jedinak now set to miss the weekend trip to Manchester United after receiving a red card from referee Phil Dowd for two rash, poor challenges in the closing stages.

The result elevates Sunderland to 15th in the Premier League table with 11 points after the first 10 games. Palace, meanwhile, are only outside the relegation zone on goals scored—with just nine points at this stage of the campaign.

"It was a massive game for us, and a big three points," Fletcher told Sky Sports afterward. "It was a massive performance from the lads at the back and we managed to get the goals at the other end.

"Things are going our way—about time. We know we have got a good team and a good squad, and we've shown tonight we can do it on the pitch."

The big team news before kick-off came from the visitors, with Poyet making two big selection decisions. The first saw the Uruguayan drop his beleaguered goalkeeper, Vito Mannone, for backup Costel Pantilimon, while recent addition Anthony Reveillere replaced the similarly out-of-form Brown—with Santiago Vergini sliding across to centre-back to partner John O’Shea.

Palace named a familiar starting lineup, and it was they who created the game’s first moment of drama. Just 25 seconds had elapsed when Fraizer Campbell slipped past O’Shea and into the box before going down in a collision with Vergini and Pantilimon. Replays showed that the defender had brought the striker down, but Dowd did not award the penalty.

The home side continued in that aggressive vein in the early moments but struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, with Yannick Bolasie making a hash of two speculation efforts from distance and frustrating many inside Selhurst Park with his erratic delivery from corners.

Sunderland, encouraged by the relative ease with which they were repelling their opponents, soon grew into the contest—and duly broke the deadlock with their first clear shot of the contest. It came on 31 minutes, with Patrick van Aanholt breaking the offside trap after a perceptive cross-field ball from Sebastian Larsson before clipping in a measured cross that Fletcher steered expertly inside Julian Speroni’s far post.

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Steven Fletcher heads Sunderland into the lead at Selhurst Park. http://t.co/I1aw9l9iOV

— Football Vines (@Vine_Football) November 3, 2014"

Van Aanholt would not last much longer, going off with a suspected dislocated shoulder after tangling with Wilfried Zaha on the edge of the box—another incident that Palace supporters thought warranted a penalty. Again, replays were inconclusive, although the Dutchman did not appear to get much of the ball.

Poyet was thus forced to change his back line again, bringing Brown on for Van Aanholt as Vergini went back to right-back and Reveillere swapped flanks. Palace could not take advantage of that reshuffle, however, with Vergini actually having the best chance of the rest of the first half as he stung Speroni’s palms with a powerful shot.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Palace, who looked to be lacking in imagination in the final 15 minutes of the first half, came out for the second half with renewed hunger and ambition, with Zaha and Bolasie growing into the game and looking increasingly dangerous. It was the former who had the first real chance of the half with a close-range shot that was blocked, but soon after he would be the instigator of Palace’s equaliser.

From a corner, the winger took the ball short and used all his trickery to wriggle into the box before picking out Marouane Chamakh with a great cross. The Moroccan should have scored, but instead Pantilimon pulled off a remarkable save—only to see Brown comically bundle the ball into his own net as Campbell tried to backheel it into the danger zone.

From that moment Palace seemed to have all the momentum and threat with them, but they were unable to create any truly clear-cut chances, and when they switched off defensively for a moment, they paid the price. When he rewatches the tape, Warnock will be disgusted by what he sees—the Palace defence slow to close down Gomez, giving the midfielder all the time he needed to control Will Buckley’s pass and rifle a low shot beyond the unfortunate Speroni.

Warnock duly threw on Jason Puncheon and Dwight Gayle in search of a second equaliser, but Palace’s night would get worse as captain Mile Jedinak received his marching orders following a second yellow card. The first offence was needless—pushing Brown in the back with the ball down by the corner flag—and the second appeared to leave Dowd with little option but to show his red card, as Jedinak seemed to aim a slight kick at Gomez after the pair had tangled in midfield.

It was a clear sign of frustration on the part of the away side and their talisman, with the scoreline perhaps not what the performance warranted but a fair indictment of their lack of attacking inspiration.

It was rubbing salt into the wound somewhat when Sunderland completed the scoring in injury time, with Fletcher getting his second on the counter-attack, beating Palace’s short-handed defence before lifting a calm shot beyond Speroni.

For Sunderland and their manager it was a much-needed three points following successive painful defeats against Southampton and Arsenal. Poyet certainly seemed to enjoy it, having a bit of history with the Eagles going back to his time as Brighton manager.

“It means a lot," he told Sky Sports. "Sometimes it is not about playing nice and deserving to win, it is about the basics. The best part is the goals, but we rode our luck a little bit in some periods.”

For Palace, however, this was a real wake-up call—the home side looked short of quality and ideas in the final third, and without the defensive resilience that characterised their campaign last season they will wonder if they are in for a long and arduous season. 

“I think everyone knows it’s a penalty,” Warnock added. “We need a bit of luck at the minute. It’s so disappointing when you play so well. How we lost that game I will never, ever know.

"I’ve told them we’ve got to keep trying to make our own luck. We won’t get given any.”

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Player Ratings

Player	Rating
Julian Speroni	6
Martin Kelly	6
Brede Hangeland	6
Scott Dann	7
Joel Ward	6
Mile Jedinak	6
Joe Ledley	7
Wilfried Zaha	7
Yannick Bolasie	6
Marouane Chamakh	7
Fraizer Campbell	7
Substitutions
Jason Puncheon	6
Dwight Gayle	6

Player	Rating
Costel Pantilimon	7
Patrick van Aanholt	6
John O'Shea	7
Santiago Vergini	7
Anthony Reveillere	8
Lee Cattermole	7
Sebastian Larsson	7
Jordi Gomez	7
Will Buckley	7
Connor Wickham	6
Steven Fletcher	8
Substitutions
Wes Brown	6
Jozy Altidore	6
Liam Bridcutt	7

What's Next?

Crystal Palace travel to Manchester United next weekend as they bid to extend Louis van Gaal's difficult start to life at the club. Sunderland, meanwhile, host Everton at the Stadium of Light.

All quotes taken from Sky Sports' live post-match broadcast.