Bookings: Rodwell (30, foul), Coates (55, foul), Buckley (86, foul)

Sending Off: Rodwell  (66, second yellow card, unsporting behaviour)

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Wythenshawe) – Rodwell’s stupidity meant he had no option other than to send off the Sunderland midfielder 6

Attendance: 22,961

Entertainment: *

 

SUNDERLAND (3-5-2):

5 Mannone: Returned to make his first start since October, but hardly inspired confidence as he struggled to deal with a number of crosses

6 Vergini: Looked reasonably comfortable on the right of the back three, although was stretched as Fulham attacked in the closing stages

6 O’Shea: Took responsibility for organising the Sunderland defence, and prevented Fulham’s attackers from getting behind their opponents’ back three

5 Coates: The least secure of Sunderland’s three centre-halves, with one particularly clumsy second-half challenge earning a booking

7 JONES: His crossing might have let him down on occasion, but at least he was trying to get his side on the front foot with some energetic breaks down the right

5 Larsson: Saw plenty of the ball over the course of the afternoon, but failed to penetrate the Fulham defence and delivered some poor set-pieces

4 Bridcutt: Is his presence really required in a formation featuring five defenders? Linked the midfield and defence but offered nothing going forward

2 Rodwell: To be dismissed for tangling with the keeper when you’re already on a booking suggests a chronic lack of common sense

6 Van Aanholt: Was one of Sunderland’s brighter attacking players down the left-hand side, and came close with a shot that was tipped over

5 Fletcher: Toiled away willingly for more than an hour, but hasn’t really struck a relationship with Defoe even though it remains early days

6 Defoe: Had to create three second-half chances all by himself as a lack of service from midfield seriously curtailed his options

 

Subs:

Wickham (for Fletcher, 66): Offered marginally more than the player he replaced, with a decent late effort forcing a save from Bettinelli 6

Buckley (for Jones, 75)

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

 

FULHAM (4-1-3-2):

BETTINELLI 8; Grimmer 7, Hutchinson 8, Bodurov 7, Stafylidis 6; Tunnicliffe 8; Christensen 6, Ruiz 7, Fofana 7 (Kacaniklic 75); Woodrow 6 (Rodallega 75), Dembele 6 (McCormack 61, 6).

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

 

Man Of The Match: MARCUS BETTINELLI – The Fulham goalkeeper was hardly over-extended for much of the game, but whenever he was called upon, he responded with a smart save.