Southampton’s good run of form continued in this game at the Stadium of Light coming away with three points and leaving Sunderland languishing near the bottom of the table.
A successful spot kick from Dusan Tadić in the 69th minute was the difference between the two sides with neither having too many threatening attempts on goal. Yann M’Vila brought down Ryan Bertrand inside the area with an unnecessary slide and sealed his side’s fate much to the dismay of Sam Allardyce. Ronald Koeman fared far happier with his side, probably deservedly on the balance of play, winning the match to make it three consecutive victories for the South Coast club.
A pair of goal-line clearances from Sebastián Coates and DeAndre Yedlin on top of a few smart saves from Costel Pantilimon prevented the scoreline being any further in Southampton’s favour. The home team looked devoid of any flair going forwards and only managed to significantly trouble Maarten Stekelenburg once over the 90 with an Adam Johnson free-kick fizzing past the post the only real other danger.
A Worrying Start for Allardyce
This defeat marks Sunderland’s eighth of the season so far, and they have managed just one win in 12 games. Allardyce is still fresh in his stead leading the team after the departure of Dick Advocaat, but signs are already worrying for the English manager. Four games in charge and three have resulted in defeats, including a hefty 6-2 loss against Everton, though it should be said that the team’s solitary win came under his leadership also.
The Black Cats’ manager seems well aware of the shortcomings and hopeful that the team will be able to display its quality more readily and for the duration in future games. Allardyce is obviously very early in his Sunderland management career and will surely have plenty of time to turn things around but the new man is already calling for a big step up from his player.
“In training I see a lot of good things but I ain’t seeing it when we get on the pitch. Certainly the players have to produce more.”
M’Vila Hero and Villain
It’s funny to say that the player who gave away the penalty that lost your side the game was probably also your best player, but that seems an apt description of M’Vila’s performance. A poor decision to slide into a challenge that was really not the required course of action and saw him fell Bertrand and give away a spot-kick, but it was just a blemish on an otherwise good performance. The Black Cats have struggled with their central defensive structure the season so far yet in this match they seemed much more compact.
A supremely confident and strongly performing Graziano Pellè struggled to find space and service in the centre of the Saints’ attack. Coates and Younès Kaboul seemed to have been on the same wavelength, a quality lacking in many of their partnerships so far this campaign, and M’Vila slotting in front and providing that cover from midfield led to a tight defensive unit in the centre of the park. Better defensive structure is vital to the Black Cats who have conceded the most goals in the Premier League and have managed just one clean sheet in 2015-16.
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