Sunderland vs West Bromwich Albion. Premier League.
Stadium of LightAttendance40,043.
Saturday 1 October 2016 18:38, UK
Sunderland's Patrick van Aanholt came off the bench to score seven minutes from time and salvage a 1-1 draw from the visit of West Brom.
David Moyes' side are still searching for their first Premier League win of the campaign but the solitary point was enough to take them off the bottom, at least until Stoke play on Sunday.
West Brom are up a place to ninth but will be disappointed they could not hold on for the win, having taken the lead through Nacer Chadli in the first half.
The struggling hosts made a bright start at the Stadium of Light and put together a neat passing move in the third minute, only for the usually reliable Jermain Defoe to pull his shot wide with just the keeper to beat, after latching onto Duncan Watmore's through-ball.
Sunderland continued to see plenty of possession but their attacks foundered on the well-organised West Brom defence, as the visitors looked to soak up pressure before countering.
It was a strategy which worked well and Chadli drew a decent save from Jordan Pickford after Matt Phillips had pulled the ball back.
The same combination then combined to even better effect in the 35th minute, Claudio Yacob winning a crucial tackle in midfield before freeing Phillips who in turn picked out Chadli in the inside-left channel.
The Belgian still had plenty to do but a delightful first touch took him away from Lamine Kone before he guided a lovely finish into the corner of the net.
The lead could have been doubled before the break but James McClean could not match Chadli from a similar position, screwing his shot wide, admittedly under pressure from a defender.
Sunderland huffed and puffed in the second half but appeared worryingly reliant on Defoe for any sort of goal threat.
The experienced England man produced one sumptuous turn but was then crowded out by defenders in the box, and also had a seemingly goal-bound shot brilliantly blocked by Jonny Evans.
That chance was created by Wahbi Khazri, after a brilliant pass from Van Aanholt, who was somewhat surprisingly omitted from the starting line-up but emerged in the second-half after Jan Kirchhoff picked up a knock.
And it was Van Aanholt who saved the Black Cats with a goal out of the blue, having initiated the attack himself with a pass to Watmore.
The young forward had worked tirelessly all day and did superbly here, powering into the box down the left and then flicking the ball into the path of Van Aanholt, who managed to place a bouncing shot into the top of the net.
Sunderland goalkeeper Pickford had earlier made important saves to keep out a Darren Fletcher piledriver and a good effort from Salomon Rondon, which he blocked at the near post.
And both sides continued to attack as the game opened up after the equaliser, Rondon heading over while Defoe shot just wide from distance with virtually the final kick of a decent encounter in the north-east.
No further goals meant Van Aanholt's leveller was the key moment, capping an eventful few weeks for the Dutchman, who was withdrawn from the team minutes before kick-off at Tottenham on the advice of a cardiologist, before a photo emerged of the 26-year-old apparently smoking a shisha pipe.
Player ratings
Sunderland: Pickford (7), Manquillo (6), Kone (6), O'Shea (6), Denayer (6), Kirchhoff (6), McNair (5), Khazri (7), Watmore (7), Ndong (5), Defoe (7)
Subs used: Van Aanholt (7), Rodwell (6), Gooch (6)
West Brom: Foster (6), Dawson (6), McAuley (6), Evans (6), Nyom (6), Phillips (6), Fletcher (6), Yacob (6), McClean (5), Chadli (7), Rondon (6)
Subs used: Morrison (6), Gardner (6), Robson-Kanu (6)
Man of the match: Duncan Watmore
