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When, on Friday, it became clear that Crystal Palace were selling Marc Guéhi to Manchester City and Oliver Glasner announced he would be leaving at the end of the season, Sunderland supporters turned a little nervous.
They fretted that Palace might react to not merely the loss of their best defender and the impending departure of a much-admired manager but the ignominy of last weekend’s FA Cup calamity at non-league Macclesfield by demonstrating that they are not so shabby after all.
Such fears would prove unfounded as Sunderland came from behind to extend Palace’s winless run to 10 games in all competitions thanks to goals from the excellent Enzo Le Fée and Brian Brobbey.
After a series of creditable draws, it was Sunderland’s first Premier League victory since Newcastle were sunk here last month and left a side unbeaten here this season with 33 points. Palace possess five fewer but their horizon looks considerably bleaker.
Sunderland began in utterly dominant mode, but Granit Xhaka, uncharacteristically, ceded possession in central midfield and Yéremy Pino cued up Jean-Philippe Mateta. Palace’s advancing centre-forward seemed certain to score and would surely have done so had not Robin Roefs, once again, highlighted his goalkeeping quality by expertly narrowing the angle before making the save.
If Roefs is very much in form so, too, is Le Fée. Not for the first time, virtually all Sunderland’s best moves originated from the Frenchman and his knack of taking a mean dead ball could have conjured a goal for Trai Hume had the unmarked wing-back not headed a whipped-in corner wide.
Pino made no such mistake when, under pressure from Chris Richards, he intercepted a soft punch from Roefs from a Will Hughes corner and, at full stretch, flicked out a boot and lifted the ball over the home goalkeeper and into the roof of the net.
The visiting celebrations had barely subsided before Sunderland hit back. The equaliser began with one of their trademark passing triangles and concluded when Nordi Mukiele’s low cross looked to be heading for Brobbey until the striker selflessly stepped aside and left the ball to run to the man standing just behind him. That player was Le Fée and his low, first-time shot proved far too good for Dean Henderson.
Although Mateta directed the ball into the back of the net before half-time his powerful half volley – unleashed after he skilfully tamed the ball with a knee – was disallowed for a fairly obvious offside.
Palace’s Guéhi-less defence struggled to track Le Fée, who was nominally deployed on the right of midfield but revelled in drifting all over the place. Noah Sadiki, too, can be difficult to second guess and when the DR Congo midfielder, freshly returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, swivelled away from his marker his pass was deflected to Brobbey and Palace were in trouble. The centre-forward still had a lot to do but Brobbey somehow succeeded in using the outside of his right foot to lash the ball over Henderson and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Henderson did well to deny Hume, but Palace were already sunk.
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