Sunderland 0 Albion 0 - Report and pictures
West Brom reached boss Tony Pulis' magical 40-point mark in the North East today by frustrating a Sunderland team desperate for all three, reports Matt Wilson.
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Albion held on to the goalless draw thanks to Ben Foster's heroics in goal, Gareth McAuley's dominance at the back, and wayward Sunderland finishing.
Jermain Defoe threatened to add to his 12 Premier League goals throughout the contest.
But there are few teams better at stifling sides away from home than the Baggies and no matter how hard he tried, the 33-year-old couldn't get the net to bulge.
He finally evaded McAuley and Jonny Evans in the 89th minute, but then Foster denied him with his boot.
Then, in injury time, substitute Dame N'Doye sent the home fans into raptures when he tucked home Fabio Borini's scuffed scissor-kick shot, but the substitute was immediately flagged offside.
Albion were superb in defence, but after a frantic opening 15 minutes, toothless up front once more.
For the second match in a row, and for the fifth time in 2016, they failed to register a shot on target.
Naughty boy Stephane Sessegnon was left out of the entire squad for the game against his former club.
He failed to return from international duty until Friday despite the fact his final game for Benin was last Sunday.
Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone, Yedlin, Kaboul, Kone, van Aanholt, Kirchhoff, Cattermole (c), M'Vila, Khazri, Borini, Defoe.
Unused subs: Jones, Larsson, Rodwell, N'Doye, Pickford, O'Shea, Toivonen.
West Bromwich Albion (4-5-1): Foster, Dawson, McAuley, Evans, Chester, Gardner (McClean 71), Sandro, Yacob, Fletcher (c), Berahino (Leko 79), Rondon (Anichebe 81).
Unused subs: Myhill, Olsson, Lambert, Pritchard.
Attendance: 45,144 (1,700 Albion)[/breakout]
Pulis brought Sandro in for the winger and also dropped centre-back Jonas Olsson to the bench after his poor performance against Norwich, reinstating James Chester at left-back and moving Evans inside.
Allardyce brought captain Lee Cattermole in for Jack Rodwell but apart from that it was the same Sunderland team that drew 1-1 with Newcastle United a fortnight ago.
It was an energetic and open start to proceedings and three minutes in Craig Gardner had a scuffed shot blocked before Sandro fired over the rebound from distance.
The Black Cats were also zipping the ball about at pace, trying to release Defoe on the Albion defence.
The veteran striker nearly replicated Jamie Vardy's audacious goal for England against Germany 10 minutes in, flicking Younes Kaboul's bouncing cross towards the near post but Foster got down well and saved.
Defoe's quick feet were proving too much for the Baggies, and a few minutes later he turned Evans in the box but dragged his left-footed shot across goal.
Both Claudio Yacob and Evans blocked further shots from the 33-year-old in the next 10 minutes.
Defoe was a hair's breadth away from meeting a wicked Wahbi Khazri cross from six yards out, but Albion also had their chances early on.
A couple of deft touches on the touchline from Saido Berahino - who was playing left wing - opened the pitch up for Darren Fletcher.
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But his pass to Gardner was crowded out when he should have used the run as a decoy and gone on himself.
Later in the first-half it was Salomon Rondon who found Fletcher again in space with a sumptuous cross-field pass but, this time, the Scot couldn't get the ball under control and Sunderland recovered.
The game wasn't without bite. Yacob was the first man spoken to by referee Roger East for a robust challenge on DeAndre Yedlin and then Kaboul picked up an early booking for a cynical lunge on Sandro.
But the biggest talking point of a frenetic first-half came half an hour in when Khazri collided with Sandro in the Baggies box after nicking the ball away from the Brazilian midfielder.
It was a clumsy challenge and the crowd wanted a penalty but referee Roger East said no straight away.
Less than a minute later, Khazri was in the thick of things again, putting Lee Cattermole through one-on-one with Foster.
But the Baggies goalkeeper rushed out and slapped down the Sunderland captain's attempted chip to keep the game tightly poised going into the break.
If Allardyce's team shaded the first half, they dominated the second.
Camped on the edge of Albion's box, big Jan Kirchhoff somehow forced his way through four Baggies players before toe-poking his shot straight up into Foster's face.
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McAuley was having a typically dominant game at the back and the Northern Irishman blocked another Defoe turn-and-shoot soon after, as the Black Cats turned the screw.
Borini then fired a thunderbolt from 25 yards out towards the top right corner but Foster got just about enough glove on the shot to turn it behind for a corner.
The former Liverpool striker then made a late run onto Yedlin's bouncing cross, but put his shot agonisingly wide of the post.
Eventually Albion ventured up the other end of the pitch, but Rondon's fizzed cross in the 70th minute was cleared by Yedlin and then a couple of corners came to nothing.
Something had to change, and Pulis brought James McClean on for another former Sunderland player, Craig Gardner, who was sporting a bandage after Kirchhoff caught him with a high boot.
Sixteen-year-old striker Jonathan Leko then came on for his Premier League debut, replacing Saido Berahino on the wing, before Pulis made his final change, swapping Rondon for Victor Anichebe.
But it was still Sunderland, and still Defoe, who threatened, and the former England striker had his best chance in the 89th minute, finally slipping past McAuley in the box.
This time, Foster was there to save his shot with his boot. That looked like being the last chance of the game, but then came a cruel blow to the 40,000 Sunderland fans.
N'Doye tucked the ball into Foster's net in injury time to send the Stadium of Light into euphoria, but the substitute was a yard offside and so the goal was chalked off.
