Match analysis: Sunderland 2 Southampton 1

IF Sunderland are going down, then they are going down fighting.

While the troubles and strife both on and of the pitch at a club not too far away from Wearside has seen the threat of Championship football increase over the weekend, their North-East neighbours have heartened their support base.

Many still think it is too late, with Sunderland sitting a point adrift of safety with four matches remaining and two of those are against Arsenal and Chelsea.

Try telling that, though, to the players wearing red and white as they walked off the pitch with huge applause from the stands and chants of ‘we are staying up’ reverberating around the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland did not turn in a performance to have everyone purring, after all they are in a relegation fight for a reason and they still have plenty of shortcomings.

What they did display was a desire and determination to dig out a crucial three points which has brought rivals Newcastle United right in to the relegation mix. And the fans showed their appreciation for the work-rate displayed by giving them the backing from the stands.

Securing a victory from the first of two potentially decisive home games – the next being against Leicester on Saturday week – could have given everyone a lift at just the right time, and it was abundantly clear that this crop of players are not prepared to accept a relegation fate just yet.

And Danny Graham thinks the guts Jordi Gomez showed to convert two penalties to secure a much-needed win is of the sort the whole squad requires in the run-in to keep Sunderland in the top-flight.

“Jordi’s got massive balls ... the biggest I have ever seen,” said Graham. “The pressure he must have been under, particularly for that second penalty, was unbelievable ... doing it once in that situation is hard but doing it twice. Wow ... he was so cool.

“He was so cool, it was beyond a joke. I was probably more nervous just watching him. There was no doubt he would take the second one. He is our penalty taker. We always stick with him and we will always believe he will put it in.”

Graham earned the first penalty when his run in to the box to meet a loose, dropping ball drew a wild challenge from Jose Fonte in the 21st minute. Gomez powerfully beat goalkeeper Kelvin Davis to his left.

After goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon and Sebastien Coates’ mix up just over 60 seconds later gifted Sadio Mane an equaliser, Sunderland fans must have feared the worst. But after getting to half-time level, ten minutes after the restart Gomez had his second.

This time Lee Cattermole’s tenacity won the ball in the middle and he fed Graham down the right. He turned back and rolled a pass in to the path of Jermain Defoe, whose poor first touch actually led to James Ward-Prowse bringing him down in the box and he received a red card for that too.

Gomez converted, this time with a side-footed finish in the opposite corner to the first and former Sunderland keeper Davis was beaten again. Graham’s persistence to win both penalties epitomised Sunderland’s spirit to get the job done when it was needed.

“I am just delighted we have pulled a few teams back in and it is so close now,” said Graham, knowing that Sunderland could take over Leicester, Hull, Newcastle and Aston Villa if they won at Everton this Saturday.

“We need to concentrate on ourselves. For long periods against Stoke a week earlier we certainly showed we are up for it and we can get good results. Hopefully it will be fine.

“There was a lot of heart and desire out there. We have a great togetherness. We have a laugh at the right time and place, we go for meals together, we do a lot of things together, the team spirit is great ... and that will see us through until the end of the season.”

Graham is still to score in any of his 27 appearances for Sunderland since arriving from Swansea in a £5m more than two years ago. He has hardly figured over the last 18 months and has been farmed out on loan to Wolves, Middlesbrough and Hull along the way.

But Sunderland’s supporters were impressed by the player’s approach to the game and gave him a touching send-off as he was the last man to leave the centre of the pitch after the final whistle.

Graham said: “It meant a lot. It has been a tough couple of years for me here since I joined the club, but I have always wanted what’s best for the club and the boys in the dressing room.

“Yes, they were singing my name and that’s nice, but what is most important is the result because we so needed that. Hopefully we can all pull together, have a good week’s training and do it all again.

“I have been on loan several times, in the squad and then out of the squad, not travelling to Portugal last summer. There have been a lot of low points, so to hear the fans singing my name was a huge lift for myself. Hopefully I can help the team from now until the end of the season.”

Graham might have scored in the first half but was blocked at the back post just as he was about to pull the trigger himself, but Gomez’s goals ensured it didn’t matter. What proved more crucial was Pantilimon’s fine stoppage-time save to deny Toby Alderweireld.

“It is a massive result for us,” said Graham. “We can’t ignore what would have happened if we had lost bearing in mind the other results. The boys were mentally brave for us.

“We went 1-0 up and then handed them a goal back straightaway. It could have been a case of ‘here we go again’. But to a man every one of us stood up and showed what we could do. We need to take that attitude and performance in to the next four games.”