Swansea City is back into fourth place after sustaining a late red card to draw 0-0 at Sunderland.
The Black Cats elevate to 15th with their fifth draw of the year.
Nathan Dyer had a try in the 10th minute in one of the match’s first real signs of danger from either side, firing over the bar after a neat bit of passing by Swans.
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Sunderland countered through an Adam Johnson chance in the 13th minute, but his tight-angle left-footed was parried wide by Fabianski.
The Swans goalkeeper again had to act quickly to push a deflection wide in the 37th minute, as Sebastian Larsson’s shot was dangerous but unsuccessful.
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A sleepy game, substitutions seemed the only hope for some lively play. Yet they provided very little.
Would Angel Rangel’s second yellow, coming in the 81st minute for a late tackle, change things up?
Sadly, no. Steven Fletcher and Connor Wickham both had chances in the final half hour, to no avail.
Lineups
Sunderland: Mannone, Jones, van Aanholt, Vergini, O’Shea (c), Larsson, Rodwell (Gomez, 58'), Cattermole, Johnson (Alvarez, 66'), Buckley, Wickham (Fletcher, 78')
Swansea City: Fabianski, Rangel, Fernandez, Williams (C), Taylor, Ki, Shelvey, Sigurdsson (Richards, 82'), Dyer (Montero, 66'), Routledge, Gomis (Bony, 73')