Crystal Palace Vs Sunderland: Player Ratings

Costel Pantilimon - 7

Took crosses with ease all night on his league debut for Sunderland, while making a couple of fine saves. Incredibly unlucky with Palace's second-half equaliser when magnificently denying Chamakh to his left, only to see sub Wes Brown hurtling towards him before bundling the ball into his own net.

Anthony Reveillere - 7

Steady debut for Frenchman Reveillere, who'll still be getting used to the pace of the Premier League. Had to switch to left-back from the right after van Aanholt departed and looked decent with both feet.

Santiago Vergini - 5

Could have given away a penalty when clipping former Sunderland man Fraizer Campbell in the box after 25 seconds and looked shaky defensively for the majority of the contest. Popped up twice in the attacking third to almost score once in each half, though. His contribution going forward dragged his mark up from something much more scathing.

John O'Shea - 6

A couple of worrying moments early doors gave way to a more assured performance as the game wore on. Solid generally.

Patrick van Aanholt - 7

Flying Dutchman van Aanholt started brightly, especially when getting forward to cross for Steven Fletcher to head home the opening goal, but was forced to go off on a stretcher with a damaged shoulder shortly after his assist.

Lee Cattermole - 6

Gave away a couple of silly fouls early on, but held his defensive position impressively to help provide a screen for the back four. Ended up receiving a booking which rules him out of Sunday's home clash against Everton.

Sebastian Larsson - 6

Showcased a couple of fabulous long passes, but didn't affect the game massively. Hardworking.

Jordi Gomez - 7

Involved in some nice interplay with van Aanholt leading up to Fletcher's opener, while scoring one of his own with a sublime low strike from 20 yards out to hand Sunderland a 2-1 advantage. Neat and tidy overall.

Will Buckley - 8

Direct, non-stop, attack-minded performance from Buckley, who was a threat throughout the evening. Justified his selection once again.

Connor Wickham - 5

Wickham displayed a poor first touch on numerous occasions and only had one effort of note on target with a point-blank header near the end of the first half, which he aimed straight at Speroni. Much more required.

Steven Fletcher - 9

Showed great willingness to come deep in order to get involved with the team's build-up play and put away a sublime header from 12 yards to hand the Black Cats a welcome first-half lead. Grabbed a second in injury-time at the end of the match with a wonderful left-foot finish. Back to his supreme best.

Subs:

Wes Brown - 6

Blocked numerous shots after entering the field in place of the injured van Aanholt. Couldn't get out of the way when running towards his own goal early in the second period, which resulted in conceding yet another unfortunate goal.

Jozy Altidore - 6

Liam Bridcutt - 7

Slid Fletcher through for his second of the night, which should give him a confidence boost with the possibility that he might start in Cattermole's absence at the weekend.

Man of the Match: Steven Fletcher - Two great goals and worked hard all night