Sunderland 2 Crystal Palace 3

SUNDERLAND crashed to the foot of the Premier League as they threw away a two-goal lead to suffer a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.

The Black Cats looked on course for their first league win of the season when Jermain Defoe followed up his first-half opener with a second goal on the hour mark.

However, Palace clawed a goal back within a minute, with Joe Ledley firing home a deflected strike, and Sunderland collapsed from that point onwards.

James McArthur equalised with 14 minutes remaining, and Sunderland’s misery was complete when Christian Benteke headed home a Palace winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Sunderland have fallen below Stoke City to the foot of the table, with their latest setback particularly demoralising given their two-goal advantage with less than 30 minutes of the game remaining.

Having made six changes for Wednesday’s EFL Cup game at QPR, David Moyes reverted to the side that had played in Sunderland’s last league game, with Patrick van Aanholt’s return to the starting line-up the only change from the team that had played at Spurs.

That meant Papy Djilobodji playing alongside Lamine Kone at the heart of the back four, and having had a difficult start to his Sunderland career, the £8m summer signing struggled again in the early stages.

His distribution was all over the place, and he was brushed aside far too easily in the fifth minute as Benteke seized possession in the penalty area, only for the Palace striker to be unable to get a shot away.

Benteke found the target for the first time shortly after, directing a header straight at Jordan Pickford, and came close again midway through the first half when he stabbed Jason Puncheon’s cross over the bar under pressure from Djilobodji.

Sunderland had already been forced into a reshuffle at that stage, with Duncan Watmore replacing the injured Steven Pienaar, and the Black Cats barely broke into the Palace half in the opening quarter of the game.

They fashioned a chance from nothing shortly before the half-hour mark though, with van Aaanholt crossing from the left and Defoe producing a back-heel flick that drifted just wide of the far post.

Defoe’s goalscoring capabilities were the key reason why Sunderland survived in the top-flight last season, and the former England international will once again be absolutely crucial to his side’s hopes of hauling themselves out of the bottom three.

His 39th-minute opener might have owed much to some dreadful Palace defending, but he still displayed impressive composure to claim his third goal of the season.

Steve Mandanda had an eternity to clear the ball in the Palace goal, but instead he rolled a pass to Ledley, who was quickly closed down by Adnan Januzaj. Ledley panicked, and his attempt to play the ball back to his back four merely teed up Defoe, who calmly slotted a side-footed finish in the bottom right-hand corner.

Palace threatened a first-half equaliser when Damian Delaney stabbed wide at the back post after Benteke headed Puncheon’s corner into his path, but the visitors were somewhat fortunate to end the half with 11 men on the field.

Former Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye was booked after he leapt into a dreadful tackle on Watmore, even though he failed to make contact with his opponent. Had he caught Watmore, he would almost certainly have been off.

Palace spent the early part of the second half pushing for an equaliser, and came close 11 minutes after the break as Puncheon broke downfield. The winger played a neat one-two with Cabaye, but Pickford did well to tip his goal-bound shot around the post.

The more the visitors pressed, however, the more space there was for Sunderland to exploit on the break, and Defoe doubled the Black Cats’ lead with his second goal of the afternoon on the hour mark.

His first attempt was denied by Mandanda after Javier Manquillo’s storming run set him up, but after Sunderland retained possession and Watmore crossed from the left, Defoe lashed home a ferocious first-time finish.

Leading by two goals, the Wearsiders needed to exert some control on the game, but instead Palace reduced their arrears within a minute of conceding Defoe’s second.

There was a large element of luck to their success, with McArthur inadvertently laying a long ball into Ledley’s path via his back, and the Wales international’s subsequent shot taking a hefty deflection off van Aanholt on its way into the net.

Suddenly, Palace were buoyant, and while Defoe went close to completing his hat-trick as he fired wide from the edge of the area, the visitors equalised with 14 minutes left.

Palace substitute Zeki Fryers had only been on the pitch for a minute, but he delivered a superb cross from the left that enabled McArthur to out-jump van Aanholt at the back post and head home from close range.

Victor Anichebe came on for his Sunderland debut with five minutes left, along with Wednesday’s two-goal hero Paddy McNair, but it was Palace who remained the more dangerous, and while Andros Townsend failed to find the target with a late shot, the visitors claimed a winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Javier Manquillo conceded a needless free-kick close to the touchline, substitute Lee Chung-Yong delivered the ball into the centre, and Benteke out-jumped Jan Kirchhoff on the edge of the six-yard box to head home.

Sunderland (4-3-3): Pickford; Manquillo, Kone, Djilobodji, van Aanholt; Ndong, Kirchhoff, Cattermole (McNair 85); Januzaj (Anichebe 85), Defoe, Pienaar (Watmore 15).

Subs (not used): Mika (gk), Denayer, O’Shea, Khzari.

Crystal Palace (4-1-4-1): Mandanda; Ward, Tomkins, Delaney, Kelly (Fryers 75); Ledley; Puncheon (Lee 90), McArthur, Cabaye (Wickham 72), Townsend; C Benteke.

Subs (not used): Hennessey (gk), Wynter, Mutch, Sako.