Sunderland vs Chelsea. Premier League.
Stadium of LightAttendance47,050.
Sunday 8 May 2016 00:51, UK
Sunderland took a huge step towards Premier League survival after a dramatic second-half fightback inspired them to a 3-2 win over Chelsea.
The Black Cats trailed 2-1 at the break after Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic scored either side of Wahbi Khazri's sweetly struck volley.
But Fabio Borini levelled the match in the 67th minute and Jermain Defoe fired his 18th goal of the season soon afterwards to put the hosts ahead for the first time.
John Terry was sent off late in the game for a second booking and Sunderland held on to climb out of the bottom three.
With Newcastle only managing a point against Aston Villa, the Black Cats can now secure their top-flight status with a win in midweek against Everton - a game live on Sky Sports 1 HD - and in the process relegate the Magpies along with Norwich and Villa.
It was a scenario that looked unlikely for much of the match on Saturday.
Although Sunderland started positively, with Gary Cahill booked inside the first minute for bringing down Defoe, it was Chelsea who created the first chances and took an early lead.
Cahill's pass deflected through kindly for Costa, who kept his cool to finish from close range.
Chelsea continued to threaten and the closest Sunderland came was when DeAndre Yedlin headed at Thibaut Courtois from Defoe's cross.
The Black Cats needed a moment of inspiration and it arrived late in the half as Khazri struck a superb volley from the edge of the box which took a slight deflection as it arrowed into the far corner.
At that stage it looked like the hosts would go in at the break with the momentum, but they suffered a setback deep into injury-time as they failed to clear their lines and Matic pounced to finish under Vito Mannone.
While the Sunderland keeper was beaten on that occasion, he saved twice from Costa in the second half to prevent the visitors extending their lead further.
First he denied the striker after he was through on goal and then came out sharply to block another shot after a slick passing move.
The saves would prove crucial as Sunderland turned the game around with two goals in two-and-a-half minutes.
Borini levelled when his shot from the edge of the box deflected off Terry and beat Courtois before Defoe fired home from around the penalty spot shortly afterwards.
Although the final 20 minutes was nervy, Sunderland held on and the visitors finished with 10 men as Terry was shown a second yellow for fouling Khazri.
Soccer Saturday verdict - Phil Thompson
In the first-half, Sunderland were chasing shadows. Chelsea had nothing to play for and were passing it around. Sunderland went in 2-1 down, they were all over the place and you thought Chelsea were more than comfortable.
You were catching your breath in the second-half when the ball comes from the right-hand side, it takes a flick off a Chelsea player round about the penalty spot and Defoe takes one touch.
A player of his class takes one touch, controls the ball and he drives it past Courtois. It was unbelievable and the noise was incredible. It was an unbelievable turnaround.
Player ratings
Sunderland: Mannone (7), Yedlin (6), Van Aanholt (6), Kaboul (6), Kone (5), Kirchhoff (6), Cattermole (5), M'Vila (6), Borini (7), Khazri (7), Defoe (7).
Subs used: Larsson (5), O'Shea (5), Watmore (6).
Chelsea: Courtois (5), Ivanovic (5), Cahill (5), Terry (4), Azpilicueta (6), Mikel (6), Matic (7), Willian (5), Fabregas (6), Hazard (6), Costa (7).
Subs used: Baba (5), Oscar (5), Traore (5).
Man of the match: Jermain Defoe
