Sunderland beats 10-man Swansea 4-2 in Premier League

Sunderland are now third-bottom, having leapfrogged neighbours Newcastle United, and Defoe says boss Sam Allardyce will ensure they fight to the end to stay in the Premier League.

Asked if Defoe’s goals were the key to leading Sunderland from trouble, Allardyce replied: “I think so”.

“The fact that we’ve got the little man up front at the moment, whose in terrific goal-scoring form has ended up winning us in the game”.

“It is a big factor we have goals in the team, we have players that can score”.

“That’s irrespective of whether you’re in the dominant position in the game or not”.

But once the dust settles on an evening that was heavily influenced by the ineptitude of referee Graham Scott, Sunderland can draw considerable satisfaction from a result that could go a long way towards salvaging their season.

But Scott – who was called up as a late replacement for Andre Marriner – was still heavily criticised by Curtis after the match.

Defoe gave Sunderland the lead inside the first three minutes, but a controversial penalty decision – the award coming for a foul by Wes Brown, despite Andre Ayew kicking his own foot – allowed Gylfi Sigurdsson to level from the spot.

“I wanted our wide men to get in the hole between their defence and their midfield”. For me it’s get up and get on with it, give him a foul.

The home side fought bravely enough, particularly after they saw right-back Kyle Naughton very harshly red-carded before half-time, but again the Swans;’ play lacked the quality, poise and precision that has marked so much of their time in the top division.

“But we need to win games sooner rather than later, and the longer you go without a win the pressure starts to build”.

After the loss against one of our main relegation rivals, in the way we did and the way the game panned out with such unbelievable refereeing decisions, it’s hard to put into words as to how frustrating is was to watch that game tonight.

“You can recover but when you play with 10 men for an hour, that’s the one that killed us more than anything”.

The hosts’ prospects were badly dented before the break when Naughton got his marching orders for a challenge when he won the ball ahead of Yann M’Vila.

‘It is something we will try to appeal first thing tomorrow morning.

Curtis has won only one of his six games in command since stepping up from a coaching role following the dismissal of Garry Monk last month.

“I have spoken to Huw (Jenkins, Swansea chairman) about players”, Curtis said.