Sunderland 1, Fulham 1
Oct 29 2007 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
HAVING learned that points can be lost when playing well in the Premier League, Sunderland discovered they can also be gained when playing badly against Fulham.
This was a game the Black Cats looked like they would lose for the majority of the 90 minutes, but it was one they ended suggesting they could snatch all three points despite playing for most of the second half with 10 men following Greg Halford’s dismissal for a second bookable offence.
While manager Roy Keane is adamant he will not allow his side to lose their good football principles as they battle for points, he could not prevent the Black Cats from forgetting how to pass the ball against the Cottagers.
It is difficult to remember a worse first 45 minutes from a Sunderland team during Keane’s time on Wearside and he did not hold back at half-time.
But, having already heard their own supporters boo them into the dressing room, Keane’s motivational powers were enough to provoke an instant response from the players. The Irishman, as ever, would not reveal what had been said and would not say whether he had lost his temper, but whatever words were used and in whatever tone, they galvanised a team which, until then, had been looking at another damaging defeat.
Much of Sunderland’s football remained disjointed and one-dimensional, but there was a renewed vigour, purpose and urgency about their play and finally Fulham were made to fight for every loose ball, header and pass.
No matter that the Black Cats should be looking to beat teams like Fulham at the Stadium of Light, given what had come before, Kenwyne Jones’s late header felt like it had secured a victory; a victory for character, camaraderie and the charisma of the manager.
By his own admission, Keane is still not the complete manager and he knows he has, at times, made mistakes in tactics, selection and recruitment, but he has a unique ability to inspire men, an ability which, along with his players’ stubborn determination was enough to salvage a point.
That Fulham were not at least two goals in front before the break was largely due to David Healy’s inability to roll the ball into an empty net from the edge of the area. The Northern Ireland international would have been a Sunderland player if Leeds United had not refused to sell him at the start of the year, but he still managed to do the Black Cats a massive favour here. With Danny Higginbotham and Craig Gordon confusing each other, Higginbotham rashly decided to knock the ball across goal to a non-existent teammate. And, with Gordon off his line, Healy was unmarked as he ran on to the loose bar only to curl it wide of the net.
It felt like a fortunate escape, but Sunderland were quickly punished and questions will be asked about Gordon’s positioning as Simon Davies curled a 25-yard free kick inside the left-hand post. The midfielder had raised a hand as if signaling a cross and Gordon appeared to fall for the trick as he was slow to react as the ball curled over the wall and beyond his dive. Yet, for all of their dominance and Sunderland’s inability to maintain possession – with the unfortunate Halford, in particular, enduring a torrid first half – Fulham did not get a second goal and Sunderland were a different side in the second half.
Grant Leadbitter might have pulled one back with 20 minutes left, but Antti Niemi, until then a virtual spectator, made an excellent sprawling save to keep out his effort as he ran on to Jones’ header.
Earlier, Clint Dempsey had hooked a decent chance over the bar for the visitors and Diomansy Kamara did put the ball in the Sunderland net, only for referee Andre Marriner to penalise him for an earlier foul on Nyron Nosworthy.
With Leadbitter denied, Sunderland might have folded, but they kept on going and when Leadbitter swung in a cross, Jones had found just enough room away from his marker to glance the ball in for his third goal in as many games.
The Trinidad and Tobago international, who had not been able to train all week because of an injury, thoroughly deserved his man of the match award for a valiant effort as a lone striker following Halford’s sending-off. But he would have been celebrating a victory had Anthony Stokes shown more composure in stoppage time.
Fulham’s teenage full-back Elliot Omozusi mis-judged a long ball forward, Stokes suddenly found himself in the clear, but a heavy first touch enabled Niemi to close the angle and a nervous-looking Stokes prodded the ball straight at him. A defeat would have been cruel on Fulham and barely deserved by Sunderland, but with commitment and determination like this, the Black Cats are still showing enough to suggest they will survive this season.
