Sunderland 0-1 Fulham: Cottagers Scrape To A Lucky Win
(images from game to come) Sunderland lost to Fulham 0-1 in the sides' first Barclays Premier League on Saturday afternoon at the Stadium of Light. Pajtim Kasami's early second-half headed struck misery on Wearside after an impressive display by the 'revolutionary' side. The Black Cats started the brightest with Altidore having an audacious long-distance shot deflected for an early corner, a corner which was dealt with easily by new Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg. The efforts continued to come from the new-look Sunderland side with Emanuele Giaccherini and Cabral pinging shots towards the Cottagers goal though, Stekelenburg was not tested. The game started to level out as it neared the quarter-of-an-hour-mark at the Stadium of Light with Fulham entering a 'purple-patch' though neither side had troubled either keeper. Though the patch didn't last long at all. Stephane Sessegnon and Giaccherini started to link up neatly with each other and as expected, started to cause the Whites several headaches. The pair then added the inqusitive play of Adam Johnson and the brutal work of Jozy Altidore which resulted in a free-kick opportunity for Sebastian Larsson and, an eventual yellow card for Derek Boateng. The set-piece master curled the dead-ball into the wall but could only win a corner for the dangerous Black Cats. The play from the foursome continued as they created several opportunities for the impressive Cabral, though his latest effort went narrowly wide. Already booked Boateng didn't look as if he would last the half with a fourth foul in the opening half-an-hour, but a role around on the floor gave the midfielder a get out of jail free card. Paolo Di Canio's revolution continued their vigorous pressing with Giaccherini, Altidore and the newest addition to the squad, Ondrej Celustka, having his first shot in England just touched over the bar, brilliantly from Dutch man Stekelenburg. Sunderland were on top of everything and at half-time came in with 58% of the first-half possession, something which is relatively unheard of for the home side, at the Stadium of Light. The second-half appeared to take off the same way as the first-half ended with Johnson having a shot sail just above the bar however, it didn't last. Veteran Fulham winger Damien Duff took the Cottager's first corner of the new season and in the 52nd minute, they took the lead. The ball was floated over by Duff and against the run of play, Pajtim Kasami headed in at the far post. The mood inside the ground changed dramatically after that, both on and off the pitch. The ground fell silent and the players began to get frustrated. Johnson thrashed another shot at the goal which went wide and fellow midfielder Cabral, did exactly the same. The Wearsiders pressed for the equaliser and were starting to recover their neat play which was seen in the first half, though Fulham's defence was holding firm. It was Altidore who appeared to be Sunderland's man of danger as the game neared it's end as he continued to cause problems for the Whites back line. Fulham lost their goalkeeper and Sunderland lost their shape with 15 minutes to go until full time. Panic set in for Paolo Di Canio's side even though the Italian tried to calm them down, they needed something special, a bit of impetus, but it never looked like turning up.