Everton 0-2 Sunderland: The Talking Points – Sunderland Lucky

In what was billed as the big Premier League match to look forward to here on Playing for 90 fans weren’t left disappointed as Sunderland scored two comic goals to leave the Blues fuming while the Mackems edged their way out of the relegation zone as The Premier League enters it’s final fortnight of the season.

Luck Undoubtedly Plays a Part:

It’s a well worn cliché at times but sometimes you just get lucky: Sunderland’s two goals on the day certainly swerve toward the idea of luck. The first goal was a strike from Jordi Gomez’s striker clipped the heels of Danny Graham before edging into the corner of the net.

Graham also seemed embarrassed as he recorded his first Premier League goal in a Sunderland shirt; but the importance of the shirt could be gargantuan. The second goal – a wayward Adam Johnson shot hitting the thighs of Jermaine Defoe before trickling past the line – was another comedic goal but equally massive as Sunderland edged their way out of the relegation zone to 16^th place.

They say luck evens itself out over the course of the season, and Sunderland have certainly had their share of bad luck this term. So perhaps the manner of their two goals at Goodison was some kind of payback because make no mistake about it, they needed some good fortune in front of goal to beat Everton.

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Advocaat is Advocate for Success:

Having managed professionally since 1984 Dick Advocaat has been round the block and back again – but his trophy haul isn’t exactly extensive and may not be well known to the masses. Despite that, Advocaat has brought a sense of purpose to Sunderland since arriving, propelling them out of the relegation zone with his old-school variation of the 4-3-3 formation.

The Black Cats have now picked up 10 points in his six games in charge, as opposed to 26 points from 29 games under his predecessor Gus Poyet. The Dutchman only signed a short-term contract, which runs out at the end of the season, and he again swatted away questions about whether he may prolong his stay, insisting that no discussions would take place until the end of the season.

Should he guide Sunderland to safety though; he must surely be the leading contender for the long-term post.

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Midfield Battle Won By Mackems

As predicted in our Big Match Preview, the midfield battle would be the primary area of focus in the game, where the match would be won and loss. Pivotally for Sunderland, Lee Cattermole and co. dismantled the ageing Gareth Barry lead midfield in a turgid but slowly-improving performance on Saturday afternoon.

By his own admission Barry had imagine he’d see a lot less playing time this season, but injury to Darron Gibson meant he played a lot more than expected, and for the first half of the season, with extremely declining results.

Despite that, Barry had improved n recent weeks, resulting in the Blues leading the way as one of the form teams in The Premier League. On Saturday though, his war-weary legs dragged along the turf, leading to Cattermole and his crew making many key interceptions and taking control of Sunderland’s direct game-plan.