Crystal Palace 0 Sunderland 4: Jermain Defoe heaps misery on Sam Allardyce's awful Eagles in relegation battle

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Alex Young @alexwsyoung4 February 2017

Crystal Palace's hopes of Premier League survival took a huge hit on Saturday after being stunned a ruthless Sunderland side.

It will be a bitter blow for Sam Allardyce, facing his former club, as he watched his three-man defence repeatedly picked apart on the break.

The hosts bossed possession for the majority but saw Lamine Kone break the deadlock against the run of play. Billy Jones jumped to challenge Wayne Hennessey for a floated freekick and the in-demand defender reacted quickest to the rebound to slam the ball home.

Sebastian Larsson was booked early on for a reckless challenge on Wilfried Zaha and was very lucky to avoid a second yellow card minutes before Sunderlander's opener, for which he supplied the set-piece delivery.

Palace composed themselves after going behind and began pushing Sunderland further and further back but, time and again, let themselves down with sloppy passing as Christian Benteke cut a frustrated figure.

Sunderland, meanwhile, took full advantage of their chances and put the result beyond doubt with three goals in five remarkable minutes.

First record signing Didier N'Dong pounced on a poor touch by Joe Ledley, who had replaced an injured Yohan Cabaye, to run towards goal and beat Hennessey from 25 yards for his first Sunderland goal.

Not one to ever miss out, Jermain Defoe got in on the act after given far too much space in the penalty area then, less than a minute later, added his second of first-half added time after turning James Tomkins and firing inside Hennessey's near post.

The second half was a pedestrian affair with the result beyond doubt. Andros Townsend and Loic Remy were introduced to restore some pride but Palace's play continued to be disjointed.

Scott Dann's deliveries remained a threat from wide and set-piece situations, but movements in the final third were below par as Sunderland were happy to sit back and soak up pressure.

The result sees Palace drop down to 19th, with Hull City beating Liverpool, as David Moyes's bottom club move level on points with the Eagles.

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