Two penalties from Jordi Gomez, one in each half, gave Sunderland the victory they so desperately needed to keep alive a realistic hope they can still climb out of the bottom three and avoid relegation.
The first, awarded after Jose Fonte clattered Danny Graham, gave the hosts a lead that lasted barely a minute before defensive sloppiness allowed Sadio Mane to equalise. The second was given after James Ward-Prowse brought down Jermain Defoe, earning a red card that reduced Southampton to 10 men for most of the second half.
Sunderland had won just one game of the 10 that preceded this to leave them in peril. And make no mistake they remain in peril and in the drop zone, for now, and with tough games ahead. But they are just one point behind the two teams immediately above them, Leicester and Hull, and just two behind the next two, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
Jordi Gomez scored twice from the penalty spot as Sunderland beat Southampton 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday
Gomez scored his second penalty in the match on 55 minutes after James Ward-Prowse (centre) fouled Jermain Defoe in the penalty area
For much of the game, the view looking down on the technical areas featured two Dutch managers in contrasting states of mind. On the right, Ronald Koeman of Southampton, standing calmly with his hands in the pockets of an overcoat keeping out the cold on this bright but chilly afternoon. On the left, Dick Advocaat, pacing, urgent, gesticulating, going back and forth his bench as if in search of answers.
That summed up two clubs’ seasons right there; one unfolding more impressively than anyone can have forecast last summer, the other in crisis since the start, deteriorating to the extent that Advocaat was brought in to firefight. His task is far from over.
The reverse fixture back in October at St Mary’s will go down as the high point in Saints’s campaign, the 8-0 win their biggest margin of victory in any league match since 1921.
It may yet not be the nadir of Sunderland’s campaign.
Advocaat made two changes to the starting XI who drew at Stoke last week, Sebastian Larsson coming back from suspension and Danny Graham also back as Will Buckley and Jack Rodwell dropped to the bench.
Koeman made two changes from the team who began last week’s 2-2 draw against Southampton, with Morgan Schneiderlin out injured for the rest of the seaosn and Steve Davis benched. Victor Wanyama came in for the former and Shane Long started.
More likely than not, Schneiderlin has played his last match for the Saints. It is no secret that there are multiple big-club suitors and that the Frenchman believes - rightly - that he has the talent to grace the Champions League. Almost inevitably a big bid of £30million or thereabouts will come in and be accepted from someone, maybe Arsenal. And right-back Nathaniel Clyne could also be sold, while Toby Alderweireld’s future will depend on the mindset of his parent club, Atletico Madrid and he might also be gone.
But while Saints will be a different side next season, there have been enough signs this campaign that a slick recruitment unit and a continuation of their production line of British talent will keep them vibrant.
Sunderland in contrast are far from certain of even playing in the Premier League. Next week they travel to Everton, who have turned their own season around and won’t be easy to beat, before the Black Cats face a fixture of huge magnitude at home to Leicester. Sunderland will finish - maybe in more than one sense - away at Arsenal and then Chelsea.
Southampton had first sight of goal, Maya Yoshida setting up left-back Ryan Bertrand, who flashed his shot wide right.
Billy Jones at the other end had a header saved by Kelvin Davis, and soon after teed up Danny Graham, who thundered a shot high and wide. Just before that Wanyama had blasted his own effort wide.
Sunderland took the lead from a penalty awarded after Fonte recklessly clattered into Graham in the area. The Portuguese defender might well have been sent off for dangerous play but he wasn’t even booked. Gomez scored from the spot.
Saints were back level just over a minute later thanks to a defensive cock-up by the hosts. Clyne’s cross from the right should have been dealt with simply but Sebastian Coates impeded his own goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon and Mane snaffled the spilt ball into the net.
Sunderland were forced into a significant change just after the half hour as John O’Shea went off having been kicked in the chest, and suffering a suspected concussion. Until that point O’Shea had played every minute of every match of Sunderland’s season, cup games included. A combination of the oncoming Santiago Vergini and the flaky Coates as the home side’s centre-half partnership certainly caused jitters.
Connor Wickham fluffed a great chance to put Sunderland ahead in the 39th minute, sidefooting over when set up by Patrick Van Aanholt. Saints then succeeded in emerging unscathed from a goal line scramble involving Wickham, Defoe and Graham, none of whom could get the ball over the line. Kelvin Davis on the cusp of half-time then did well to push away Larsson’s free kick from 20 yards to keep the scores level at the interval.
A second Gomez penalty put Sunderland back ahead after Ward-Prowse was adjudged to have prevented a goal scoring opportunity to Jermain Defoe, bundled over while running onto Graham’s sqaure ball as Ward-Prowse challenged him. Ward-Prowse was sent off and it looked a harsh red but represented justice of sorts after earlier leniency by referee Mike Jones towards Fonte.
Sunderland kept pushing for more. Southampton tried patiently to get level, Steve Davis sending hearts into mouths with a last-minute rocket, saved. Both teams will want better things from the run-in.
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