Three things we learnt from Southampton 1-1 draw with Sunderland

Add as preferred source on Google

Solid centre-half partnership encouraging for slow starting Sunderland

After Sam Allardyce masterminded yet another great escape from relegation for the Black Cats last season, new manager David Moyes has been forced to contend with the task of solidifying Sunderland’s leaky defence after Allardyce departed Wearside to take up the England post. Two opening defeats will have provided little encouragement or optimism, but in the draw on the South Coast where Moyes’ team finally got a precious first point on the board, there were signs of early progress, particularly in the rear-guard, which will be critical if the club are to dodge the drop again this season.

The central defensive duo of Papy Djilobodji, a summer signing from Chelsea, and Lamine Kone, who has been linked with Everton, very much cured up Sunderland at the back, with the former making 11 clearances throughout the contest- more than any other player.

The £8million Moyes spent on Djilobodji may prove to be something of a bargain if he can build on this impressive showing ,despite initial question marks being raised over the expenditure of the fee compared to the £4million Chelses paid FC Nantes for the defender only last summer.

Despite a strong performance from the pair, Moyes will need the remainder of his team to follow suit and tighten up elsewhere on the field, particularly goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who may be seeing much more first-team action on Wearside with first choice shotstopper Vito Mannone set for three months out with injury. His lapse in concentration means that the Black Cats have now failed to register a clean sheer in each of their last eight meetings against Southampton.

Sunderland however are a club that has developed a tendency for leaving it late in the season to truly hit form, and supporters will not allow themselves to be carried away with pessimism following yet another slow start to the new campaign, the Wearsiders having now won a mere one of their 20 August Premier League matches since the 2010/11 season. Though unlike previous campaigns there are encouraging signs early on for Moyes’ team, and if he can successfully tighten them up around this defensive duo they will surely be looking up the table before the business end of the season and spare their supporters of the April-May nerves.

Featured Image: All Rights Reserved by Rory Llowarch.