Crystal Palace vs. Sunderland: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
Steven Fletcher scored twice and Jordi Gomez also found the back of the net as Sunderland won their first Monday match in the Premier League since 2002, beating Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace, who huffed and puffed but just couldn't create meaningful chances despite the majority of possession, temporarily equalised through a Wes Brown own goal, but William Buckley set up Gomez for the winner in the 79th minute. Fletcher sealed the three points in the final minute of second-half stoppage time.
Several individual performances stood out over the 90 minutes at Selhurst Park, and the following slideshow will examine just a few of them.
Here are the winners and losers from Monday's encounter.
Loser: Phil Dowd, Who Should Have Awarded Palace an Early Penalty
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It would have been difficult for Phil Dowd to award a penalty inside the opening minute—and perhaps eject a player—but early fouls carry just as much weight as late ones and on Monday night the referee bottled it.
Mere moments had elapsed following kick-off when Fraizer Campbell ran onto Marouane Chamakh's flicked ball and was hacked to the ground in the Sunderland area by Black Cats defender Santiago Vergini.
Not only did Dowd allow play to continue, he also refused to recognise a foul that would likely have resulted in Vergini's sending-off.
As long-time journalist Bob Cass (recently of the Mail on Sunday) remarked via his Twitter account, it was a "stonewall" penalty.
That was certainly the opinion of Palace manager Neil Warnock, who felt his side were not rewarded for their play.
"It’s so disappointing when we’ve played so well—how we’ve lost that game I don’t know.
The lads couldn’t have given more but we need to start making our own luck.
Major decisions change games and we’ve been on the receiving end of some bad ones in the last few matches.
"
Winner: Will Buckley, Who Made Something Happen
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Sunderland spent extended stretches on the back foot at Selhurst Park, which meant they were reliant on the counter-attack for offense.
Both of their second-half tallies came after quick moves downfield, and in the 79th minute Jordi Gomez was able to convert one of the counters into a goal.
Winger Will Buckley, who effectively marked both Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha before being substituted in the 82nd minute, did well to cut inside from his position from the right before squaring the ball to Gomez. The Spaniard let it pass to his left foot before beating Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni inside the far corner.
Loser: Gus Poyet, Who Lost His Left-Back to a Shoulder Injury
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Patrick van Aanholt's duel with Wilfried Zaha set the stage for Monday's match to become the intense affair it was. The two players went at each other time and again during the early exchanges at Selhurst Park, but shortly after the hour mark it was the Sunderland left-back who got the better of the on-loan Manchester United winger.
Capitalising on some good work deep down the left-hand side, Van Aanholt delivered an inch-perfect cross into the Palace goalmouth that teammate Steven Fletcher was able to head into the back of the net.
But only a few minutes later, the 24-year-old was down on the ground following another battle with Zaha, and in the 37th minute he was replaced by Wes Brown. According to the BBC, the Netherlands international suffered a separated shoulder and was immediately taken to the hospital.
This means manager Gus Poyet will have to deal with replacing the left-back who has started all 10 games and has proven to be one of the club's top passers.
Winner: Steven Fletcher, Who Bagged a Brace
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Steven Fletcher opened the scoring with a perfectly placed header following Patrick van Aanholt's accurate cross from the left.
He then notched a late goal with a confident finish to the far corner after Liam Bridcutt's broke downfield in the 95th minute.
As the Sunderland Echo's Chris Young proclaimed via Twitter, it certainly looked as though Fletcher was back to his best at Selhurst Park.
Loser: Wes Brown, Who Continued Sunderland's Run of Own Goals
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Sunderland let Crystal Palace back into Monday's match when defender Wes Brown accidentally directed Wilfried Zaha's back-heel pass into his own goal in the 55th minute.
As ESPN FC's Twitter account pointed out, the incident represented the Black Cats' 10th own goal since the start of last season, and talkSPORT's Jim Proudfoot counted the own goal as Sunderland's fourth in 16 days.
Thankfully for Brown, Jordi Gomez and Steven Fletcher would turn the game around before the final whistle.
Losers: The Promoted Clubs, Who Are All in the Drop Zone
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With nearly a quarter of the 2014-15 Premier League season already in the books, the clubs that won promotion to the English top flight last spring are in possession of all three relegation places.
Sunderland's win away to Crystal Palace lifted the Black Cats out of the drop zone and into 15th spot in the table. As a result, Leicester City moved down a place to 18th.
Queens Park Rangers, who lost to Chelsea on Saturday, and Burnley—yet to win a game this season—occupy the bottom two places.
