Goals:

0-1: Defoe (42, picked the ball up close to the halfway line and glided past a retreating Fernandez before drilling home a low finish)

1-1: Ki (66, converted Naughton’s right-wing cross with a diving header from the edge of the six-yard box)

Bookings: Cork (16, dissent), Dyer (31, foul), Bridcutt (49, foul), Larsson (71, deliberate handball), Naughton (75, foul), Gomez (77, foul), Fletcher (88, foul)

Referee: Phil Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent) – Somehow managed to show seven yellow cards in a game that was far from bad-tempered, and missed a possible penalty for a foul on Alvarez 3

Attendance: 20,355

Entertainment: ***

 

SWANSEA (4-2-3-1):

Fabianski 6; Naughton 7, Fernandez 5, Williams 6, Taylor 6 (Rangel 67, 5); Cork 5, Ki 7; Barrow 4 (Montero 46, 5), SHELVEY 8 (Oliveira 78), Dyer 7; Gomis 6.

Subs (not used): Tremmel (gk), Amat, Carroll, Fulton.

 

SUNDERLAND (4-1-3-2):

8 Pantilimon: Made two very important saves to deny Gomis and Oliveira and was a commanding presence throughout

6 Reveillere: Produced some effective surges down the right-hand side, but went missing as Ki headed home Swansea’s goal

7 Vergini: Continues to justify his central-defensive place ahead of Brown and didn’t shy away from the physical tussle with Gomis

6 O’Shea: Generally defended well, but must take some of the blame for Ki’s goal as he failed to react to the danger

7 Van Aanholt: As lively and energetic as ever, with his overlapping runs down the left continuing to be a major feature of Sunderland’s play

6 Bridcutt: Did what he was there to do, although couldn’t get close enough to Shelvey for much of the first half

6 Alvarez: Was always looking to be positive when he had the ball, but didn’t shine anything like as brightly as he had at Fulham

6 Larsson: Provided a steadying influence as he returned to the team, even if his forays into the penalty area were extremely limited

7 Gomez: Showing definite signs of improvement, and came close with a first-half shot that whistled narrowly wide

6 Graham: Made a surprise return after an 18-month exile and held the ball up reasonably effectively – didn’t look like scoring though

8 DEFOE: Changed the game with one moment of brilliance – had he not been playing, Sunderland would almost certainly have lost

 

Subs:

Johnson (for Alvarez, 64): Didn’t really have much of an impact and spent most of his time performing defensive duties 5

Fletcher (for Graham, 75)

(not used): Mannone (gk), Brown, Coates, Agnew, Smith.

 

Man Of The Match: JONJO SHELVEY – In a game where there was little to choose between the teams, the Swansea midfielder was consistently the most creative player on display.