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Costel Pantilimon - 9
The big Romanian really didn't deserve to concede three goals, and without him Sunderland certainly wouldn't have been in the game right up until the final whistle.
Santiago Vergini - 7
Defensively pretty sound. Didn't do much the other way.
John O'Shea - 7
Customarily splendid
Wes Brown - 6
A couple of iffy moments, as you generally expect with him, but solid for the most part. Being caught under the ball for the crucial winner the annoying exception.
Billy Jones - 7
Won the penalty and did his bit defensively.
Jack Rodwell - 8
Looked far more comfortable in a deeper position than the box-to-box type that Poyet wanted him to be. Food for though for the Uruguayan.
Seb Larsson - 7
Not his finest game of the season by any stretch of the imagination, but he just keeps on going and delivered a pearler of a set piece for Rodwell's goal.
Jordi Gomez - 4
It's New Year's Day, so it's a generous four. Let's leave it at that.
Will Buckley - 2
If I'm in generous mood and Gomez got four, you can imagine how bad Buckley was. Actually, he wasn't bad so to speak. He just wasn't involved in the football process at all today.
Adam Johnson - 7
Plenty of quality and stepped up with a lovely set piece. Starting to drift into the centre far more and becoming a much greater influence as a result.
Connor Wickham - 5
Tough task for him, admittedly, but really didn't hold the ball up to a Steven Fletcher standard.
Emanuele Giaccherini - 7
A breath of fresh air from the central midfield position once again.
Ricky Alvarez - 7
One moment of real magic for the equaliser. Just what he was brought to the club to provide.
Sebastian Coates - 5
Didn't do much, and nor would you really expect him to in fairness.
Man of the Match - Costel Pantilimon
Looking a bigger and bigger steal every week. The truth is, while Sunderland didn't get anything out of the game, it was Pantilimon who gave them the opportunity to do so with a string of fine saves against his former club.