Bookings: Rodwell (30, foul), Coates (55, foul), Buckley (86, foul)
Sending Off: Rodwell (66, second yellow card, unsporting behaviour)
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Wythenshawe) – Rodwell’s stupidity meant he had no option other than to send off the Sunderland midfielder 6
Attendance: 22,961
Entertainment: *
SUNDERLAND (3-5-2):
5 Mannone: Returned to make his first start since October, but hardly inspired confidence as he struggled to deal with a number of crosses
6 Vergini: Looked reasonably comfortable on the right of the back three, although was stretched as Fulham attacked in the closing stages
6 O’Shea: Took responsibility for organising the Sunderland defence, and prevented Fulham’s attackers from getting behind their opponents’ back three
5 Coates: The least secure of Sunderland’s three centre-halves, with one particularly clumsy second-half challenge earning a booking
7 JONES: His crossing might have let him down on occasion, but at least he was trying to get his side on the front foot with some energetic breaks down the right
5 Larsson: Saw plenty of the ball over the course of the afternoon, but failed to penetrate the Fulham defence and delivered some poor set-pieces
4 Bridcutt: Is his presence really required in a formation featuring five defenders? Linked the midfield and defence but offered nothing going forward
2 Rodwell: To be dismissed for tangling with the keeper when you’re already on a booking suggests a chronic lack of common sense
6 Van Aanholt: Was one of Sunderland’s brighter attacking players down the left-hand side, and came close with a shot that was tipped over
5 Fletcher: Toiled away willingly for more than an hour, but hasn’t really struck a relationship with Defoe even though it remains early days
6 Defoe: Had to create three second-half chances all by himself as a lack of service from midfield seriously curtailed his options
Subs:
Wickham (for Fletcher, 66): Offered marginally more than the player he replaced, with a decent late effort forcing a save from Bettinelli 6
Buckley (for Jones, 75)
(not used): Pantilimon (gk), Gomez, Alvarez, Giaccherini, Graham.
FULHAM (4-1-3-2):
BETTINELLI 8; Grimmer 7, Hutchinson 8, Bodurov 7, Stafylidis 6; Tunnicliffe 8; Christensen 6, Ruiz 7, Fofana 7 (Kacaniklic 75); Woodrow 6 (Rodallega 75), Dembele 6 (McCormack 61, 6).
Subs (not used): Kiraly (gk), Burn, Zverotic, Roberts.
Man Of The Match: MARCUS BETTINELLI – The Fulham goalkeeper was hardly over-extended for much of the game, but whenever he was called upon, he responded with a smart save.
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