Sam Allardyce: “Massive pressure” on Sunderland to pick up points

Sunderland need four points from their next two games to avoid being cut adrift in the Premier League, according to boss Sam Allardyce.

Currently in the Europa League positions, West Ham is now unbeaten in its last 13 home games in all competitions ahead of its move to the Olympic Stadium next season.

Slaven Bilic felt West Ham were fully deserving of their 1-0 win over Sunderland but felt they wasted chances to make the victory more comfortable.

Sky Sports will also air live Premier League football this evening as West Bromwich Albion host Crystal Palace from 5.00pm on Sky Sports 1.

All Sunderland’s good defending was undone after 30 minutes, though, as Patrick van Aanholt failed to deal with Sam Byram’s aimless lob upfield, allowing Michail Antonio to weave his way into the box from the right before curling a daisycutter into the far corner, as Mannone failed to react. We are making life extremely hard for ourselves.

Both sides had hit the woodwork – Mark Noble saw a drive tipped onto the crossbar by Vito Mannone and Wahbi Khazri clipped the frame of West Ham’s goal – before Antonio struck after half an hour.

Rodwell gave the Black Cats’ attacking impetus when he came off the bench but the midfielder missed two gilt-edged chances. “If I say “yeah, we’ve got a chance”, then I’ve become big-headed or whatever”.

West Ham fans, just like Newcastle supporters before them, eventually found out what Sam Allardyce was really all about.

Allardyce said: “My worry is, just recently, some of our best performances have been against Man City and here and we’ve got zero points”.

“We were not flat, but we were not in the red zone”, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic said.

At the start of the second half Defoe had a great chance to equalize as Lee Cattermole’s long ball over the top caught out James Collins but the former Hammers striker snatched at the effort and sent his left-foot volley wide.

Dimitri Payet has scored or set up 12 Premier League goals this season – twice as many as any other West Ham player.

“They have got a lot of exceptional players, but Payet at the minute is the game-changer for them, he’s the game-winner for them”.

“I don’t feel sorry for him – I respect him and I said enough about him at the pre-match press conference, that he did brilliantly for West Ham”, Bilic said.

The Frenchman has been an utter revelation since arriving in the summer, taking the Premier League by storm.