Jermain Defoe Pounces On Crystal Palace Error, Gives Sunderland 1-0 Win

At the beginning of November, Scott Dann was a Crystal Palace hero. They boyhood Liverpool fan had not only scored at Anfield, but scored the deciding goal in an impressive road win. But on Monday evening, he was the goat in a Palace loss to Sunderland.

In the 80th minute, Billy Jones rolled a hopeful through ball towards Jermain Defoe. Dann dropped back in coverage, attempting to hold off the forward while Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennesey rushed out of his area to clear the ball. The striker outmuscled Dann at the last moment, however, and slotted the ball into an empty net.

Beyond that one moment of goal scoring, the story of the evening was Sunderland’s defense. The Black Cats put in a performance that manager Sam Allardyce can be proud of; Palace had 67% of the ball, 11 corners and put seven shots on target but were unable to score. Sunderland remain in the relegation with 10 points, although they are only one point behind Newcastle. If tonight’s defensive effort can be replicated, however, they could fight their way to safety. On the other side of the pitch, Crystal Palace has fallen to 10th in the table after a strong start to the season.   PHOTO: LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 23: Jermain Defoe of Sunderland capitalises on a mix up by Scott Dann (L) and Wayne Hennessey (R) of Crystal Palace to score the opening goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Sunderland at Selhurst Park on November 23, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Article by Joe Kozlowski