Ten-man Sunderland held by Fulham

SUNDERLAND will have to replay with Fulham a week on Tuesday after the two sides played out a desperately poor goalless draw at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats survived the second-half dismissal of Jack Rodwell to ensure they remain in the hat for Monday’s FA Cup fifth-round draw, with the replay at Craven Cottage pencilled in for Tuesday, February 3.

However, the lack of adventure in the home ranks was extremely alarming, with the recent arrival of Jermain Defoe seemingly having done little to increase Sunderland’s creativity and attacking threat.

Defoe saw a couple of second-half efforts saved by Marcus Bettinelli in the Fulham goal, but it was the visitors who came closest to a winner as Hugo Rodallega smacked a late effort against the post.

Gus Poyet had promised to take the FA Cup seriously prior to kick-off, and the Sunderland head coach was as good as his word, making just three changes from the side that lost at Tottenham.

Two were enforced, with Wes Brown and Adam Johnson nursing injuries, and the third saw Vito Mannone replace Costel Pantilimon in goal.

Most attention was focused on Defoe, who was making his home debut following his recent switch from Toronto, but the England international was little more than a spectator during a wretched first half that saw Sunderland fail to create anything of note.

Billy Jones made a couple of dangerous forays down the right-hand side, only for his final delivery to let him down, but if the switch to a 3-5-2 formation was supposed to increase Sunderland’s creativity, it failed.

With Liam Bridcutt, Seb Larsson and Rodwell lacking pace in the central area, the Black Cats were laboured and predictable from the word go, and it took 18 minutes before Rodwell fired in their first effort, which flew well wide.

Mannone had saved a weak effort from Cauley Woodrow by that stage, and while Fulham were as listless as their opponents for most of the afternoon , at least the visitors could point to their Championship status as an excuse for their limitations.

Woodrow saw a 20th-minute shot blocked after a fine run from Seko Fofana, before Mannone produced the best save of the game as he got down well to parry Moussa Dembele’s fierce low shot.

Rodwell was booked on the half-hour mark for a dreadful challenge on Konstantinos Stafylidis that must have had referee Anthony Taylor at least considering a straight red card, and while Seb Larsson finally forced a save out of Bettinelli with a back-post effort that was saved by the keeper’s legs, there was very little cohesion to the Black Cats’ play.

Steven Fletcher headed over five minutes before the break after the Fulham defence failed to clear a corner, but the afternoon was perhaps best summed up by a Patrick van Aanholt effort shortly after. The Dutchman let fly from distance – only for his effort to catch Defoe flush in the face.

Defoe finally fired in his first shot of the game in the 56th minute, only for it to sail harmlessly wide, but a flurry of Sunderland corners at least represented some concerted pressure from the home side.

The second half had started with a decent chance for Fulham as Fofana turned inside Santiago Vergini inside the area, only for his side-footed shot to drift narrowly wide following a deflection.

The visitors introduced their leading scorer, Ross McCormack, in the 61st minute, but the switch was immediately followed by Sunderland’s best chance of the game.

Jones’s cross from the right flicked off the head of a defender, and Defoe fired in a crisp first-time volley that Bettinelli did well to parry.

The 32-year-old went close again shortly after, prodding Rodwell’s scuffed shot towards goal, only to see Bettinelli save again with his legs, but Sunderland’s task became significantly more difficult when Rodwell was dismissed in the 66th minute.

Having already been booked, the midfielder displayed a staggering lack of sense when he picked up a second yellow card for preventing Fulham’s goalkeeper from throwing the ball out. It was a completely needless infringement, and meant the hosts played the final 25 minutes with just ten men.

In fairness to Sunderland, the reduction in numbers did not prevent them from getting men forward in the closing stages, and Bettinelli was called on again to tip Patrick van Aanholt’s rising drive over the crossbar.

Bettinelli was the visitors’ star man, and he tipped a long-range Connor Wickham effort over the crossbar shortly after to continue an effective afternoon.

Fulham’s second-half attacking was conducted in fits and spurts, but the visitors came within inches of claiming a winner with four minutes left.

McCormack laid the ball off for Rodallega, and his fellow substitute smacked a 20-yard drive against the base of the right-hand post with Mannone well beaten.

Sunderland (3-5-2): Mannone; Vergini, O’Shea, Coates; Jones (Buckley 75), Larsson, Bridcutt, Rodwell, van Aanholt; Fletcher (Wickham 66), Defoe.

Subs (not used): Pantilimon (gk), Gomez, Alvarez, Giaccherini, Graham.

Fulham (4-1-3-2): Bettinelli; Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis; Tunnicliffe; Christensen, Ruiz, Fofana (Kacaniklic 75); Woodrow (Rodallega 75), Dembele  (McCormack 61).

Subs (not used): Kiraly (gk), Burn, Zverotic, Roberts.