- Defoe grabs hat-trick
- Swansea sent to ten-men in 37′
- Sunderland move a point behind Swans
At 33-years-old, Jermain Defoe showed he still has the scoring touch, grabbing a hat-trick in a crucial 4-2 win over Swansea City.
With the win, Sunderland moves just one point behind Swansea as the two teams battle for Premier League survival.
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Sunderland got off to a dream start as Jermain Defoe opened the scoring just three minutes into the match, capitalizing on a mistake from Swansea goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. Fabianksi hit a poor goal-kick right to Adam Johnson, who then played Fabio Borini for a shot on goal. Borini’s intial shot was saved, but Defoe was there to clean up the rebound and slot Sunderland ahead.
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After Defoe’s goal the match was all Swansea, and the visitors found a deserved equalizer in the 21st minute. Andre Ayew cut into the box and went to shoot when he looked to be clipped from behind by Wes Brown. Replays showed Ayew really tripped over his own feet, but the referee pointed to the spot and Gylfi Sigurdsson stepped up and buried the penalty.
With the match level, Swansea were forced to ten men when Kyle Naughton was harshly sent off in the 37th minute. Naughton and Yann M'Vila both went in for a bouncing ball, and while Naughton’s studs were up, he clearly got the ball first and was very unfortunate to see red.
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Despite being down to ten men, Swansea took the lead minutes later through a brilliant individual effort from Andre Ayew. Ayew raced onto a long punt from the keeper Fabianksi, made a clever turn around his defender and fired a shot into the bottom corner as the Swans headed into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
However, Sunderland quickly erased Swanea’s lead after the break as Patrick Van Aanholt scored in the 50th minute. The Dutchman cut in on his right foot and saw his shot take a deflection on it’s way in, sailing into the top corner to draw the Black Cats level.
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Ten minutes later it was Jermain Defoe again, making it 3-2 for Sunderland. Adam Johnson played the striker through who just barely stayed onside, beating Fabianski for his second goal of the game.
Defoe capped off the hat-trick in the 86th minute, tapping in an easy finish from close range to close out a massive win for Big Sam’s Sunderland.
