Granit Xhaka equaliser earns Sunderland point against Everton
By Rebecca Johnson, PA
Captain Granit Xhaka’s second-half equaliser earned Sunderland a point in a 1-1 draw against Everton.
The clash was Everton boss David Moyes’ first visit to the Stadium of Light since he oversaw the Wearsiders’ relegation from the Premier League in 2017 and his current side took the lead when Iliman Ndiaye struck after 15 minutes with his fourth league goal of the campaign.
However, the hosts levelled seconds after the break as Xhaka’s effort bounced off James Tarkowski’s foot and into the net for his first goal for the club.
The draw lifted Sunderland up to fourth in the table and left 14th-placed Everton without a win in their last three games.
Sunderland were unchanged from their 2-1 win over Chelsea, while Thierno Barry was Everton’s sole change from the defeat to Tottenham.
Former Black Cats goalkeeper Jordan Pickford received a warm reception ahead of kick-off as he came up against his boyhood club for the first time since moving to Merseyside in 2017.
He nearly helped the Toffees go in front seconds into the game, booting a long ball up field which James Garner fired wide.
Following a quick move down the left, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall played a neat pass into Ndiaye, who had his shot blocked before Barry had an effort smothered as the Toffees enjoyed a lively start.
Ndiaye soon put them ahead. Barry challenged Noah Sadiki and, with no foul awarded, the attacker quickly took advantage, racing away and weaving through the home defence to curl a shot past Robin Roefs from the edge of the area.
An unsettled period followed for the hosts as Everton caused problems around the box, with Jack Grealish’s strike coming back off a post.
The Manchester City loanee was in the thick of the action again, sending a deep cross into Barry at the back post, but the forward blasted over the bar from inside the six-yard box.
Sunderland finally began to show some attacking intent, with Lutsharel Geertruida sending a dipping effort over and a scramble in the box just before the break seeing Dan Ballard’s header cleared by Michael Keane before Enzo Le Fee’s curling delivery was punched away by Pickford.
Sunderland picked up where they left off after the restart, levelling 43 seconds into the second half when Le Fee played a neat ball into Xhaka and the skipper’s powerful effort ricocheted off Tarkowski’s foot and into the roof of the net.
Their energetic start continued as Pickford was forced to claw away Le Fee’s deflected strike moments later.
The game evolved into a scrappy contest, with both sides struggling to really test either keeper until Wilson Isidor latched on to a loose ball in the 71st minute and charged towards goal, blasting over the bar.
Sunderland had a penalty shout for handball waved away as they slowly began to threaten again, with Isidor scuffing a promising chance and Pickford then conceding a corner after mishandling Trai Hume’s header.
Nordi Mukiele nodded over from Xhaka’s delivery and, as the game entered the final 10 minutes, Roefs made a stop at his near post from Vitalii Mykolenko’s powerful shot before holding Grealish’s teasing cross.
