David Moyes says Sunderland players must take responsibility

By Andrew Dickson

Saturday 24 September 2016 21:45, UK

David Moyes says his Sunderland players must start taking responsibility for their actions after he watched them give up a 2-0 lead and lose 3-2 to Crystal Palace.

Jermain Defoe's double gave the Wearsiders a healthy advantage which Moyes felt his team were lucky to have.

Palace came back, however, and goals from Joe Ledley, James McArthur and Christian Benteke left the Scot still seeking his first league win since being appointed at the Stadium of Light.

Moyes said: "To be 2-0 up at home and lose 3-2 was disappointing. I thought we were a wee bit fortunate to be 2-0 up when we were but nevertheless we were and we had a chance.

"We never gave ourselves a chance though. I think we conceded 30 seconds after we scored and after that we were really trying to hang in there. We couldn't keep it.

"We need people to take responsibility. We need the players to have a level of responsibility that not everything is led by me or the staff.

"When you go 2-0 up, you play better and you make sure you defend. You don't lose the headers, you don't lose the challenges.

"You make sure if you've got a cross and you're the full-back you get tucked in and the centre-halves head the ball out.

"It's very simple, there's no clever answer I can give you. Just do the basics well and then you don't concede goals."

Moyes was infuriated in particular with the nature of Benteke's injury-time winner, which gave Palace a run of three consecutive Premier League wins for the first time in more than a year.

The goal came when Javier Manquillo committed a foul in the corner and Lee Chung-yong's resulting free-kick was headed in unchallenged by the Belgian.

Moyes added: "We gave away a free-kick. I've seen some given, I've seen some not but the referee chose to give it so he was entitled to do that.

"Everyone knows how good Benteke is in the air. For us not to have anyone to deal with him and let him have a four or five-yard run and jump without any contact's quite incredible."

Once again, Sunderland are languishing at the wrong end of the Premier League table and they are now bottom of the standings after Stoke drew with West Brom.

Asked if it was getting harder to play for the club given their constant struggles in the lower reaches, Moyes said: "I don't know if I'm the right man to ask.

"Maybe you should ask the people who have been in that situation for the last three or four years. Those people are probably better to ask that question to than me.

"This is a similar situation to the one the club's been in last year and the year before and the year before that."

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