When the dust settles on this extraordinary match – and that could take a while – the referee will cease to become the main talking point for Swansea City and the threat of relegation will start to bite. Graham Scott, who was asked to take charge of the game at short notice after Andre Marriner pulled out on Monday, looked totally out of his depth at this level, yet the erroneous decisions that impacted on both teams were of little concern to Sunderland come the end.
Inspired by the evergreen Jermain Defoe, who completed his hat-trick five minutes from time and took his tally to five in two games in the process, Sunderland picked up the most precious of victories to move within one point of Swansea and give their survival hopes a huge boost.
It was a crazy, helter-skelter game and one that was overshadowed by some calamitous refereeing from a man who was officiating only his fourth Premier League game. Defoe looked to be offside when he gave Sunderland a third-minute lead and it should not have been a penalty when Wes Brown was penalised for fouling André Ayew later in the first half.
Then came arguably the defining moment in the match when Scott sent off Kyle Naughton in the 37th minute for a challenge on Yann M’Vila that was not worthy of a free-kick never mind a straight red card. The full-back’s studs were high but he clearly got the ball and only M’Vila knows why he was rolling around.
Although that harsh decision initially galvanised Swansea, who went 2-1 ahead through a superb Ayew goal shortly before the interval, Sunderland’s numerical advantage eventually told. Patrick van Aanholt, who was excellent on the left flank, hauled Sunderland level with a deflected shot and from that point on it was all about Defoe.
Alan Curtis, Swansea’s interim manager, was bitterly upset and felt Scott’s decision to send off Naughton was the turning point. “I’m disappointed. I think the big talking point is the referee’s decisions,” Curtis said. “I won’t say it has cost us as you don’t know how it will play out but it has had a major bearing on the game. Unfortunately the referee did look out of his depth.
“We were fortuitous with the penalty decision for us. But when he makes a huge decision to send a player off we were forced to play the next hour with 10. You only have to look at the video and Kyle won the ball cleanly. It is something we will try to appeal in the morning.”
Allardyce had some sympathy for Swansea and Naughton on that occasion – he looked across at Curtis and appeared bemused as well as amused when Scott showed a red card – but he also made the point Sunderland were on the wrong end of a bad call with the Ayew penalty incident.
“Scott only stepped in because the referee who was supposed to referee the game was ill,” the Sunderland manager said. “In his defence before the game Scott pointed out: ‘I know how big this game is for both of you and I’ll try and manage it the best way I can.’ But things happen under pressure and when people are under pressure they make mistakes.”
The referee was not the only one who blundered. Lukasz Fabianski’s terrible goalkick led to Sunderland’s opener when he drilled the ball straight to Adam Johnson, who fed Fabio Borini on the left. Borini’s low shot was parried by Fabianski and Defoe, who had strayed into an offside position, tapped home.
Gylfi Sigurdsson levelled from the spot after Scott deemed Brown had tripped Ayew when the Ghanaian had actually stubbed his foot into the ground. Three minutes after Naughton’s dismissal Swansea were in front when Ayew, sprinting on to Fabianski’s measured kick, beat Lee Cattermole and struck home a sumptuous left-foot angled drive that flashed into the far corner.
With an extra man, Allardyce urged his players to press higher up the pitch in the second half and Sunderland quickly got reward when Van Aanholt cut inside and thumped an 18-yard shot that took a wicked deflection off Federico Fernández’s back and went in off the far upright. Defoe, running on to Johnson’s fine pass, then beat Fabianski to grab his second – again the striker appeared offside – before later turning in Van Aanholt’s cut-back for his third.
“Jermain’s a massive player for us and converted most of the chances we created,” Allardyce said. “And irrespective of some of the referee’s decisions we’ve gone and won away in an enormous game for both of us because we’ve gained three points on everybody that is above.”
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