SUNDERLAND (4-3-3):
5 Pantilimon: Should have been more decisive when he saved Brady’s shot and was easily beaten by Whittaker for Norwich’s second
4 Jones: Struggled against Howson and is yet to convince that he is capable of being effective at Premier League level
4 Coates: Looked all at sea for the second game in succession and will be fortunate to keep his place for Saturday’s game with Swansea
4 Kaboul: The start to his Sunderland career hasn’t exactly gone to plan and he was flummoxed by the movement of Norwich’s attackers
3 van Aanholt: If Advocaat was critical of his Leicester performance, goodness knows what he made of this. Dreadful for the second game in a row
5 Larsson: One of the few players whose effort couldn’t really be faulted, but his lack of impact was underlined by his departure at half-time
4 Cattermole: Seemed to lose his focus at critical moments once again and switched off entirely for Norwich’s third goal
5 M’Vila: Won a few tackles as he made his debut, but it’s hard to see how he’s going to provide anything different in the Sunderland midfield
4 Defoe: Doesn’t look comfortable whenever he’s shuffled to the flank – Advocaat needs to find a way of playing to his strengths
4 Fletcher: Didn’t have a lot of service, but failed to find the target with the one decent chance that came his way before the break
6 Lens: The pick of Sunderland’s starters as he was the only player willing to pick up the ball and run at the Norwich defence
Subs:
4 Graham (for Larsson, 46): Failed to make any kind of impact after his half-time introduction
7 WATMORE (for Fletcher, 70): The one bright spot of the afternoon as his energy and carefree approach was rewarded with a goal
(not used): Mannone (gk), Matthews, O’Shea, Bridcutt, Rodwell.
NORWICH (4-4-1-1):
Ruddy 6; Whittaker 7, Martin 7, Bassong 7, Brady 8; Tettey 7; REDMOND 9 (O’Neil 83), Dorrans 7, Hoolahan 8 (Johnson 62, 6), Howson 7; Jerome 7 (Grabban 68, 5).
Subs (not used): Rudd (gk), Wisdom, Bennett, Hooper.
MAN OF THE MATCH
NATHAN REDMOND – The Norwich winger was everything that Sunderland’s players weren’t – bright, inventive and effective.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here