Saints should have won the game in the first half, but ended up having to salvage a point in the dying minute of injury time.

Ronald Koeman once again changed the side but still couldn't find the winning formula against a dogged Sunderland side who had a very specific gameplan that involved keeping it tight and then looking to win it late on after bringing on Jermaine Defoe and it almost worked.

Saints weren't firing on all cylinders but they still had the best of the first half and it took the Sunderland keeper to make several smart saves to keep it level at the break, but Saints had done enough to suggest that if they could get a goal then they should go on to win comfortably, but it was getting that goal that was the problem.

In the second half especially we just couldn't seem to create clear chances, the big issue for me was that Cedric Soares was left on the bench, he has been superb going forward in recent weeks yet he was a spectator.

The inclusion of Martina was strange to say the least, but stranger was the fact that Cedric remained on the bench, Martina didn't play badly, indeed he had plenty of room to get down the line which he did on many occasions, but he just could not deliver a ball, with 30 minutes to go the arrival of Cedric would have given us that extra attacking option and not only an injection of pace, but accuracy of crosses, it is easy to blame Pelle, but he rarely got a ball anywhere near him for most of the game.

Then came the moment that changed the game and almost fatally for Saints, to be blunt Fonte is not on his game lately, he has been superb during our winning streak but this week he has been abysmal, his mistake cost us the opener at Bournemouth and a lack of concentration almost cost us dearly in the first half on more than one occasion, one of which he made a magnificent recovery to retrieve the situation.

With 11 minutes to go he and to be fair the rest of the defence were caught square and Borini was allowed to get behind Fonte and he had only one real option and that was to take one for the team.

Fraser Forster made a good save from the resulting free kick, but it was only a stay of execution, to be blunt the Sunderland goal was sloppy, Yoshida did not stand up and be strong and allowed his man to walk past him and suddenly were not only a man down but a goal down too.

I just had the feeling though that there was something still in the game, I did not storm out as many did, two men lead the fightback, Oriol Romeu and Virgil Van Dijk ! Both looked like they were not going to lie down and take it and lead by example, I had the feeling that something might happen.

This was a time when a team needs a leader and Virgil Van Dijk showed that capability as did Romeu, both refused to give up and after they had scored Sunderland did not look comfortable, Saints pegged them back and you would think it was the Mackems who were a man short not Saints.

I however was starting to think that my feeling that it was not all over were just that when suddenly in the final minute of injury time Virgil Van Dijk struck a magnificnt goal, I did not realise just how good it was till I saw it again on television, the way Van Dijk pulled away from his man and volleyed home from what was a tight angle given his marker mean't he had only one place to put it and that he did.

The goal was good for several reasons, firstly obviously because it rescued a point and that might be valuable come the end of the season, but secondly because it found a fighting spirit in the team that has perhaps been missing for much of the season, we have blown hot and cold, we have either dominated teams or been beaten, rarely have we dragged a victory or a draw from the jaws of defeat, but this time we refused to give up what looked like a lost cause.

There are several lessons to be learnt from this, the first is that it is fine to tinker, but there are several players who should rarely be used unless neccessary, one of those is Martina, he is not a bad player, but against a team like Sunderland we needed someone who could deliver a ball, I just cannot understand why Cedri did not start.

The second is that we are desperately short in the centre of defence, I said back n January that having let Caulker go we only had Van Dijk and Fonte truly Premier quality and now we are losing Fonte to suspension , nothing that Yoshida has done this season has convinced me he is good enough even as cover let alone in the starting line up.

I do not like to be harsh on Saints players like this, but as a side we are now top ten, in all positions we have options, but the exception to this is central defence..

Not a great result, but there are plus points to be taken from it.

Photo: Action Images

Ali_Diarea added 11:41 - Mar 6 Completely agree Nick. I'd like to see RK start Bertrand alongside Virgil with Targett at left back and Cedric back on the right. Will be interesting to see who the captain is for next match, it could be the making of Virgil...
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DPeps added 12:04 - Mar 6 In the end it was a decent result. Others are having a go at Pelle but I don't think any of our players played badly, it was just our final ball wasn't quite on the money or our strikers were not in the right place. It has to be said that our set pieces were awful, though, with the otherwise excellent Bertrand the main offender. I lost count of the number of corners went straight into Mannone's hands

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SanMarco added 13:08 - Mar 6 Good to see that sensible analysis rather than despair and anger is holding the day. We are never as bad as we think we are during bad runs, and let's be honest, never as good as we think we are during a good run. Those who were hoping for Champions League just because we beat West Brom and Swansea can now put their calculators away as can the doomsayers as we have reached the magic 41. A good finish can still get us 7th but are enough of the players (with the honourable exceptions mentioned in the article and comments so far) that committed to the difference between 7th and 12th???? + of course, unless Ali Diarea get's his way, it is the Yoshi show for the next three games....

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sidsaint added 13:13 - Mar 6 Agree, VVD would be my choice as captain. Weakness at centre back will be exposed and our non winning streak may last until Newcastle next month. Can't see us challenging for top 6/7 now.
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saintsnutcase added 16:18 - Mar 6 Yoshida makes more mistakes per minute of action than any other player in the Premiership! Koeman seems to have a complete blind spot about him. Frankly, it is getting ridiculous. Also, sad to say, Forster has been looking way off his game in the last three matches.
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SaintBrock added 16:51 - Mar 6 Agree with quite a lot of what you have said Nick but absolutely not about Martina who played superbly yesterday and was a constant threat on the right wing as well as being solid in then tackle when having to defend in earnest. Everyone including you loves to have a go at Maya Yoshida as though he is the source of all our ails but this time it is grossly unfair to a guy who is totally loyal to Saints, plays his heart out every game usually from the subs bench and rarely gets involved in histrionics or controversy on the pitch. Poor sod had been on for only a few minutes having to provide cover for Fonte who is fast becoming an embarrassing liability these days yet many pile the blame on him for the goal when everyone around him was at fault and Defoe was not his man to mark. Wasn't that van Dyke's job? I am getting fed up with talk of Europe, frankly that became a nigh impossible task weeks ago. No way on this earth are we gong to close the gap on the top six now, Man U and West ham are in good form and beyond reach of a club that can't string one good performance to gather reliably. Forget the dreaming and focus on next season and the re-building job Koeman needs to do in June - if he is still here which is becoming more unlikely by the day. If Pochettino goes to Chelsea where do you think Koeman will be next season? He is easily able to buy out the last year of his contract, the guy is a multi-millionaire.

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OldRed added 17:50 - Mar 6 Agree with SaintBrock about Yoshida, at least his heart is in it as I don't think that applies to all of them. He had a good game against West Ham and scored the decisive goal which brings me to say that without going back and checking, the defence seem to be scoring more than the strikers over the past couple of months. Mane has completely gone off the boil. I never thought that this season would be as good as the last but it hasn't been bad. Overall it's just been a strange season all round. As for Europe, we need a better squad and few more exciting, creative players to compete. The only thing that brings most disappointment is our failure to progress further in the FA and League cups.

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saintmark1976 added 18:14 - Mar 6 Firstly welcome back from your tummy troubles Nick. SaintBrock I agree with your comments particularly in regard to Yoshida. What has the poor bloke got to do to get some of our fans off his back? Fonte makes a complete hash at Bournemouth but Yoshida gets taken off. Yesterday Fonte gets himself sent off but it is the fault of Yoshida that Sunderland score. Yoshida bashing is starting to get to the point where you simply could not make it up. To me it looks as though some of our players are already "on the beach"and are more interested in thinking about transfers to other teams, they having secured Premiership safety whether they move or not. If, and it is a big if Koeman stays for another season then I expect that he is going to have to undertake yet another big rebuilding job in the summer. Could anybody really blame him should he think "I have had enough of this"?

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Consigliere added 18:16 - Mar 6 I agree with others who say a little perspective is required here. Saints were certainly not at their best but the Sunderland goalkeeper had a great game (the home fans around me actually applauded the best of his saves) and the opposition were set up to frustrate and defend, hoping to win on the break, which of course they nearly did. Confidence is lacking for our strikers, which is why (as others have pointed out) we have scored so many goals out of defence (including from Yoshida - give the guy a break, he does his damnedest and never gives up) and all its going to take will be a couple of striker's goals and the floodgates will open. Fonte's challenge was clumsy and the red card was a bit harsh but it changed the game - for the better, in terms of the team's performance. They (and the home supporters) were suddenly fired up and in my view if the game had lasted a bit longer, we would have gone on to win, never mind equalise. A place in Europe may be looking rather hopeful now but it is certainly not out of the question.

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IanRC added 18:16 - Mar 6 SaintBrock, don't think anyone was blaming Yoshida for Defoe, just his pathetic non-challenge before the cross to Defoe. Don't understand RK's blind spot about him at all. Where was MT yesterday, a very strange team selection in defence at the start and the substitutions. We have, with the help of some poor refereeing and bad luck with injuries, thrown away the chance of an excellent finishing position this week.

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arthurfane added 18:25 - Mar 6 Might be controversial as he's not even starting regularly at the moment, but I'd like to see JWP start and be given the captaincy in the next game. He captains England U-21s and I just have a feeling it would bring that next level out of him. He really needs to push on, give him a run of games Ron!
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OldRed added 18:56 - Mar 6 Before the game RK said "Don't expect another 8-0" - but why not? Ok, so 4-0 then! It's certainly the got to be the right attitude for starters. Sunderland always put up a resistance but they ain't Chelsea or Man City.
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BoondockSaint added 22:10 - Mar 6 It's just the same every game, eh? Half the team look like they have already booked their holidays and spend most of the game thinking about what they have to pack. RK didn't have to say "Don't expect another 8-0" because these days we don't expect 1 goal never mind 2! A lot of knocking it about, but no real threat. Set pieces in general are awful. Opposition game plans that advise "kick it out of danger" mean "give the Saints a corner". RK should have to take some of the blame because it's been like this for months. No fire, no grit, teams are happy to let us kick it back and forth. I have never seen any team in the Prem have the ball in the final third and then knock it back and forth backwards until they kick it back to the goalkeeper (usually with an attacker bearing down on him) as often as the Saints do. Every week we are up against teams that we have loads more talent than on paper. Trouble is, the games are played on grass.

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schatfield added 08:56 - Mar 7 I know we shouldnt get on him, but any time I see Yoshida start or come on as a sub I think we have blown it... Pelle looks ready for the glue factory now Prediction for end of year? Am thinking between 10th and 12th spot which will be ok. Europe is miles off, many better teams ahead of us now and Chelsea 1 point behind Hope you are feeling better now Nick
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Whatsforpud added 17:19 - Mar 7 The worst part of the performance, were the corners and the crosses. Take the first ten minutes of the second half. We had four corners in that time, two failed to clear the first defender, and the other two were catching practice for the keeper. Surely when you are training every day, it must be an easy thing to kick a stationary ball to the chosen target area. This need working on.

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