Sunderland vs West Bromwich Albion. Premier League.
Stadium of LightAttendance45,144.
Saturday 2 April 2016 18:03, UK
Sunderland's Premier League survival hopes were dealt a blow as they were held to a 0-0 draw by West Brom at the Stadium of Light.
Sam Allardyce's side piled on the pressure in the second half but Fabio Borini and Jermain Defoe were denied by Ben Foster as a stubborn Albion side held on to claim a share of the spoils.
With Norwich beating Newcastle, Sunderland's fourth draw in a row means they slip four points adrift of safety.
They will be disappointed to come away with just the one point, however, as the visitors, who started the afternoon closer to the Champions League spots than the relegation zone, failed to register a shot on target.
Defoe had the first real chance of the match when he got on the end of Younes Kaboul's low ball into the box before attempting a back-heel flick but Foster got across well to save at his near post.
The game may have been short of real quality in the opening stages but there was plenty of endeavour and full-blooded challenges, with Claudio Yacob, in particular, lucky not to pick up his 10th yellow card of the season.
Instead, it was Sunderland captain Kaboul who picked up the first booking of the match for a late lunge on Sandro.
Defoe was a constant menace to the West Brom defence and went close again after 20 minutes when he picked up a pass from Patrick van Aanholt in the box and turned Jonny Evans before dragging his effort just wide.
The 33-year-old should have opened the scoring on the half-hour mark when Wahbi Khazri delivered an excellent curling ball on to the edge of the six-yard box but Defoe somehow completely failed to make contact with the cross.
Khazri was then involved in two incidents before the half-time whistle, first going down in the box after colliding with Sandro, before releasing Lee Cattermole, whose chipped effort was palmed away by Foster.
The home side started the second half with real purpose and were unlucky not to take the lead on a couple of occasions.
Jan Kirchhoff bundled his way into the West Brom box after being set up by Borini but his effort was stopped by the face of Foster.
Defoe was then put through by Cattermole but his shot was just deflected wide for a corner before Borini's powerful effort from the edge of the box was pushed away by Foster.
The Italian thought he had opened the scoring shortly afterwards when he met DeAndre Yedlin's cross on the run but his first-time volley whistled just wide of the post.
Van Aanholt was next to try his luck but his free-kick from 30 yards whipped just wide of the woodwork.
West Brom were barely a threat going forward but Tony Pulis took the opportunity to give 16-year-old Jonathan Leko his Premier League debut from the bench as he replaced Saido Berahino with a little over 10 minutes remaining.
The hosts kept pushing for the winner in the closing stages but found Foster in a determined mood, with the goalkeeper reacting well to push Borini's curling effort wide.
The England shot-stopper came to West Brom's rescue again with a minute remaining when Yann M'Vila slipped Defoe through on goal but the striker smashed his effort straight into Foster's legs from 10 yards.
Sunderland thought they had won the game in the fourth minute of time added on but substitute Dame N'Doye had strayed offside before finding the net.
Charlie Nicholas' Soccer Saturday verdict
This was another missed opportunity for Sunderland. Big Sam has been asking for the clean sheet, and he got another clean sheet, but they didn't get the goals. It is a manager's nightmare. There wasn't much fluency in their play and West Brom were decent.
Sunderland increased the tempo in the second half, Fabio Borini had a couple of chances but his finishing was amiss. The chance of the match fell to Jermain Defoe, the man you would it to fall to, his first touch excellent but he couldn't get the bend on the ball Ben Foster was equal to it. This is another chance gone for Sunderland to save their season.
Player ratings:
Sunderland: Mannone (5), Van Aanholt (7), Kaboul (6), Kone (6), Yedlin (6), Cattermole (6), M'Vila (6), Khazri (7), Kirchhoff (7), Borini (7), Defoe (6)
Subs used: N'Doye (3)
West Brom: Foster (8), Chester (5), Evans (6), McAuley (6), Dawson (6) Yacob (5), Gardner (5), Fletcher (6), Sandro (6), Berahino (5), Rondon (5)
Subs used: McClean (3), Anichebe (3), Leko (3)
Man of the match: Ben Foster
