/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53102457/633793656.0.jpg)
Rodwell finally makes global headlines for the right reasons
Jack Rodwell put that miserable run of having not featured on the winning side for thirty-nine league games behind him on Saturday. The fact that the Sunderland midfielder was not actually on the pitch to celebrate the feat as it was concluded mattered little.
Jack dropped the 'Jonah' tag at last and was able to celebrate his first taste of victory in three years and eight months. Rodwell had another decent game before he was taken off in the 52nd minute and perhaps David Moyes has at last found a way of making his former youth protege tick in a way previous Sunderland managers have been unable to.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934343/633799198.jpg)
Back in November, NewsWipe published a selection of headlines from around the world remarking on the amazing win-less sequence Rodwell was suffering. It was a little cruel in truth but it was quite a newsworthy run, let's face it. 'The Grand Loser' and 'History of the hapless' were just two of the choice ways in which global news outlets had been running the story.
So, it seems only fair to celebrate the end of Jack Rodwell's unwanted record by presenting how worldwide media sites celebrated the back of it with Sunderland's four-goal demolition of Crystal Palace on Saturday.
France: 'Jack Rodwell defeated the curse that hung over him' Jack Rodwell a vaincu la malédiction qui pesait sur lui
Italy: 'Rodwell breaks the spell and wins a game after 3 years and 8 months' Rodwell spezza l'incantesimo: vince una gara da titolare dopo 3 anni e 8 mesi
Portugal: 'Jack Rodwell ends his spell' Jack Rodwell acaba con su maleficio
Germany: 'Rodwell ends his winless run' Rodwell beendet Sieglos-Serie
Poland: 'Jack Rodwell broke his fatal streak' Jack Rodwell przerwał fatalną passę
Great stuff. It had to end some day, and what a way to end it - even if it was marred somewhat by an injury, the extent of which will become clear in the coming days.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934623/633790300.jpg)
How the national media reported Sunderland's triumphant win
It was pretty special - Sunderland romped to their fourth point in five days with four goals in the first forty-five minutes on Saturday against Crystal Palace. Sam Allardyce and Patrick van Aanholt didn't know what had hit them.
For the first Monday morning in seven weeks, Sunderland fans can enjoy the taste of victory as the working week begins. Don't let it fade just yet, just enjoy it a moment longer by revelling in how the national press reacted to our four-goal demolition of Crystal Palace.
The Telegraph: 'Boos ring round Selhurst Park as Sam Allardyce's side are humiliated in six-pointer'
Sam Allardyce had summed up this game as “the ultimate six-pointer” last week. The Crystal Palace manager never imagined that ‘ultimate humiliation’ may prove a more apt description.
David Moyes’ side move level on points with Allardyce’s side but the full impact of this result may become clearer in the coming weeks.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934627/633804088.jpg)
As impressive as David Moyes’s side were, Palace were awful and guilty of woeful defensive mistakes.
This was undoubtedly a day for Moyes, the Sunderland manager to savour. Having admitted his frustration at the quality of the squad he inherited from Allardyce last summer, Moyes had cause to believe that, having gained a confidence-boosting point against Tottenham Hotspur midweek, his side is moving in the right direction.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934445/633803956.jpg)
The Guardian: 'Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe heaps misery on broken Crystal Palace'
Sam Allardyce was left visibly appalled and apoplectic by a first half in which Palace charitably allowed Sunderland to score more goals than they had managed in their previous nine games on the road combined.
Patrick van Aanholt endured a home baptism of fire against his former club.
Substituted in the second half with a hamstring injury, Jack Rodwell will have enjoyed getting this giant chest-beating gorilla off his back.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934453/633793656.jpg)
The Times: 'Palace hit for four as Sunderland run riot'
Sam Allardyce’s face of doom as he chewed gum miserably in the dugout told you all you had to know about Palace’s surrender. The match was one of desperate significance to both teams.
Without forcing the pace, content to pack the midfield and rely on the occasional breakaway, Sunderland cruised through the first half ending it with an almost incredible 4-0 advantage.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934459/633798720.jpg)
Sunderland won thanks to their own organisation, vibrancy and clinical edge, not merely because their opponents were so poor. David Moyes had the more robust defence, the livelier midfield and in Defoe, the most potent forward on the pitch.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934471/633794328.jpg)
The Sun: 'Damien Delaney confronted by fan in ugly scene as Black Cats run riot at Selhurst Park'
Sunderland were apparently lined up in a 3-3-2-1-1 formation. Don’t ask us how it worked, but it clearly did.
Patrick van Aanholt was predictably booed by the Sunderland fans following his £10million move to Palace last week. Then he was booed by the Palace fans.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7934475/633790160.jpg)