Sunderland Vs Crystal Palace: Player Ratings

Vito Mannone - 6

Solid enough with precious little to do.

Phil Bardsley - 6

Typically combative and rarely tested defensively. Could he have contributed more going forward? Probably, but it's not really his game so tough to criticise him for suddenly not being Dani Alves.

John O'Shea - 6

Yeah, defended well. A totally different player with Wes Brown beside him.

Wes Brown - 6

Just typical Wes Brown really. Never looked stretched.

Marcos Alonso - 7

The best of the back four and one of the better performers on the park. Offered a consistent presence in the final third and tackled much better than he usually does.

Liam Bridcutt - 6

What a deceptive little player. Quite short, but wins headers. Looks slight but he can time a tackle or interception splendidly. Certainly have no complaints with his performance.

Ki Sung-Yeung - 6

Saw loads of the ball but struggled to do an awful lot with it, though much of that was due to the depth and numbers with which Palace defended.

Seb Larsson - 4

A very Sebby performance I thought. Kind of there and noticeable without ever doing anything worthy of note, merit or derision. Pretty much Seb to the nth degree. Sebalicious. Sebtastic. A veritable Seb bevvy for Sub-thusiasts. So quite annoying, really.

Adam Johnson - 7

I was surprised when he was substituted as he looked the best bet to unlock the Palace defence. It was nice to see us getting some third-man running around him when he had the ball. That's how you make the most of his ability to attract defenders to him.

Steven Fletcher - 2

I couldn't work out if he was trying to hard or really couldn't give a toss. Whichever it was, he was bloody atrocious.

Fabio Borini - 7

Again the real goal threat and desperately unlucky to not grab a massive late goal. Just get him through the middle now please. We've tried the other thing enough.

Jozy Altidore - 6

Did quite well when he came on. Offered far more than Fletcher and made a nice chance for himself which forced a good save. More of a nuisance than a beacon of quality though.

Craig Gardner - 4

If it wasn't for the stupid fouls, I'd probably not have noticed he was on.

Nacho Scocco - 5

Didn't really have the chance to do much.

Man Of The Match: Fabio Borini

If there was someone who was going to score here, it was going to be Borini. He can count himself unfortunate that he is not the hero tonight. It is time to entrust our survival to the Italian and play him through the middle, because no one else looks capable of scoring enough to ensure it.

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