Saints should have won the game in the first half, but ended up having to salvage a point in the dying minute of injury time.
Ronald Koeman once again changed the side but still couldn't find the winning formula against a dogged Sunderland side who had a very specific gameplan that involved keeping it tight and then looking to win it late on after bringing on Jermaine Defoe and it almost worked.
Saints weren't firing on all cylinders but they still had the best of the first half and it took the Sunderland keeper to make several smart saves to keep it level at the break, but Saints had done enough to suggest that if they could get a goal then they should go on to win comfortably, but it was getting that goal that was the problem.
In the second half especially we just couldn't seem to create clear chances, the big issue for me was that Cedric Soares was left on the bench, he has been superb going forward in recent weeks yet he was a spectator.
The inclusion of Martina was strange to say the least, but stranger was the fact that Cedric remained on the bench, Martina didn't play badly, indeed he had plenty of room to get down the line which he did on many occasions, but he just could not deliver a ball, with 30 minutes to go the arrival of Cedric would have given us that extra attacking option and not only an injection of pace, but accuracy of crosses, it is easy to blame Pelle, but he rarely got a ball anywhere near him for most of the game.
Then came the moment that changed the game and almost fatally for Saints, to be blunt Fonte is not on his game lately, he has been superb during our winning streak but this week he has been abysmal, his mistake cost us the opener at Bournemouth and a lack of concentration almost cost us dearly in the first half on more than one occasion, one of which he made a magnificent recovery to retrieve the situation.
With 11 minutes to go he and to be fair the rest of the defence were caught square and Borini was allowed to get behind Fonte and he had only one real option and that was to take one for the team.
Fraser Forster made a good save from the resulting free kick, but it was only a stay of execution, to be blunt the Sunderland goal was sloppy, Yoshida did not stand up and be strong and allowed his man to walk past him and suddenly were not only a man down but a goal down too.
I just had the feeling though that there was something still in the game, I did not storm out as many did, two men lead the fightback, Oriol Romeu and Virgil Van Dijk ! Both looked like they were not going to lie down and take it and lead by example, I had the feeling that something might happen.
This was a time when a team needs a leader and Virgil Van Dijk showed that capability as did Romeu, both refused to give up and after they had scored Sunderland did not look comfortable, Saints pegged them back and you would think it was the Mackems who were a man short not Saints.
I however was starting to think that my feeling that it was not all over were just that when suddenly in the final minute of injury time Virgil Van Dijk struck a magnificnt goal, I did not realise just how good it was till I saw it again on television, the way Van Dijk pulled away from his man and volleyed home from what was a tight angle given his marker mean't he had only one place to put it and that he did.
The goal was good for several reasons, firstly obviously because it rescued a point and that might be valuable come the end of the season, but secondly because it found a fighting spirit in the team that has perhaps been missing for much of the season, we have blown hot and cold, we have either dominated teams or been beaten, rarely have we dragged a victory or a draw from the jaws of defeat, but this time we refused to give up what looked like a lost cause.
There are several lessons to be learnt from this, the first is that it is fine to tinker, but there are several players who should rarely be used unless neccessary, one of those is Martina, he is not a bad player, but against a team like Sunderland we needed someone who could deliver a ball, I just cannot understand why Cedri did not start.
The second is that we are desperately short in the centre of defence, I said back n January that having let Caulker go we only had Van Dijk and Fonte truly Premier quality and now we are losing Fonte to suspension , nothing that Yoshida has done this season has convinced me he is good enough even as cover let alone in the starting line up.
I do not like to be harsh on Saints players like this, but as a side we are now top ten, in all positions we have options, but the exception to this is central defence..
Not a great result, but there are plus points to be taken from it.