SUNDERLAND (5-3-2):

7 Pantilimon: Made a few good saves but also guilty of a couple of lapses in concentration which he got away with;

7 Yedlin: Asked to slot in as a replacement for Billy Jones and he did his job effectively, and teed up Watmore’s goal

7 Coates: Defended strongly and will wonder how he didn’t score when his header was saved by Butland

7 O’Shea: Has brought greater solidity to the defence and made the men alongside him look more comfortable

7 Kaboul: Looked composed and assured in possession again, while blocking things in his direction

8 VAN AANHOLT: Had Shaqiri to contend with but managed to keep him at bay before powering in the opener with style;

6 M’Vila: Makes Sunderland tick in the middle even though he could do with doing a bit more with his quality further up the field

7 Cattermole: Plenty of tenacity again in the middle against a tough Stoke midfield

6 Larsson: Has helped to make Sunderland much stronger defensively because of his work-rate;

5 Defoe: Had a first half shot roll wide before he had to go off with a problem he seemed to carry while he was on the pitch

7 Fletcher: Led the line well and caused problems for the Stoke backline without going close himself.

Subs:

Watmore (for Defoe 31): Made some bad decisions but had the Stoke defence worried and deserved his goal. 7

Lens (for Larsson 54): Brought some extra attacking invention with him. 7

Johnson (for O’Shea 74)

(not used): Mannone (gk), Borini, Toivonen, Matthews.

STOKE (4-4-1-1): Butland 7; Johnson 6, Shawcross 4, Wollscheid 5, Pieters 4; Shaqiri 6 (Diouf 64, 5), Whelan 5, Adam 6 (Afellay 85), ARNAUTOVIC 7; Bojan 5 (Cameron 50, 5); Walters 5. Subs (not used): Haugaard, Wilson, van Ginkel, Crouch.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Patrick van Aanholt – the surprising source of a lovely opening goal and a problem for Stoke in both an attacking and defensive sense.