Sunderland took the lead but were glad to leave with a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw away at Aston Villa.
Great start to a terrible half
The Black Cats might have been dreaming of their first league win of the season as they took an early lead in this fixture. Jermain Defoe was fouled un-neccesarily just outside of the box on the left and Yann M'Vila took the responsibility from the resulting free-kick. It turned out to be a good decision by one of the club's summer signings as his right-footed strike dipped over the wall and floated into the near post past the helpless Brad Guzan to open the scoring.
The worst possible thing then happened though, as Dick Advocaat's men somehow managed to give the lead away within two minutes of M'Vila's excellent strike. It was a real gift too, as the ball broke loose from a corner-kick and Lee Cattermole was clumsy to bundle Scott Sinclair over in the box. The referee had no choice but to point to the spot for a penalty-kick, which the former Manchester City man dispatched low into the corner of the net.
Then another blow as Sinclair completed the turn around for Villa just five minutes before half time with his second of the game. It was a fine move from Villa to be fair as they moved the ball quickly up the field with Idurrisa Gueye finding Jordon Amavi on the left who delivered a great low cross with pace which Sinclair arrived at the far post to guide into the roof of the net.
Half-time substitutions the difference
After a pretty woeful first-half perfromance, it was clear things needed to change for Sunderland so Dick Advocaat took a chance and brought on Steven Fletcher for Danny Graham and new signing Ola Toivonen in place of club captain Cattermole. Toivonen had the desired effect as he found former PSV Eindhoven team-mate Jeremain Lens on the right side of the box, who cut inside and hit one left footed from 12 yards with the ball deflecting in off Micah Richards.
Thanks to this double switch, the team at least looked a threat going forward while still not looking convincing in defence. Toivonen's flair was a clear difference as before he provided the assist for the Lens goal, he nearly made another for fellow substitute Fletcher. The Swedish international linked up well down the right with Billy Jones, who put a great ball in for Fletcher who headed well but Guzan was able to tip it over the crossbar.
One last major chance for Sunderland in the game fell the way of the man you'd be expecting to score - Jermain Defoe. M'Vila played a fantastic 50-yard diagonal ball to find the former Tottenham forward in the area, but his first touch was poor and allowed the quick reactions of Guzan to smother the danger.
Good fortune in defence
Technically this game is Sunderland's best defensive performance of the season as they only conceded two goals. But even so, there was an element of luck in that fact. One such instance arrived just a few minutes after they had got themselves back level when Sinclair was slipped in down the right side of the box and drilled one across goal, which seemed goal-bound. Luckily for the visitors though, it took a deflection off his team-mate Richards and the former City defender accidentally cleared the danger in the process.
Costel Pantillimon's shot-stopping ability was also called upon late in the game as he had to get down well to his left to beat away Ashley Westwood's half volley from the edge of the area. Despite taking an early lead, Sunderland will be relieved to walk away from the west Midlands with a second point on the board.