Sunderland v Southampton: The last 20 league meetings on Wearside remembered

Here we look back at the last 20 league meetings between the clubs on Wearside.

In that time, only in three games has a team scored more than two goals – Sunderland on each occasion, most recently on the opening day of the 1984-85 season.

1968/69 SAFC 1 Saints 0: Sunderland made it two home wins out of two thanks to George Mulhall’s 73rd-minute strike.

1969/70 SAFC 2 Saints 2: John Lathan’s 84th-minute leveller ended Sunderland’s three-match losing streak. Bruce Stuckey fired the hosts ahead on 53 minutes, but a five-minute double from Mick Channon turned the game on its head.

1974/75 SAFC 3 Saints 1: Sunderland won their first home game of the season after falling behind to Mick Channon’s first-half penalty. Dave Watson, Bryan “Pop” Robson and Billy Hughes revived Sunderland in a dramatic 10-minute surge.

1975/76 SAFC 3 Saints 0: Second-top Sunderland closed in on promotion after three games without a win, with a double from Roy Greenwood and a Mel Holden strike doing the damage.

1977/78 SAFC 0 Saints 0: Sunderland stopped the rot after successive defeats to stay 1th in Division Two in a goalless draw which saw a rare appearance for homegrown talent Peter Stronach, off the bench.

1980/81 SAFC 1 Saints 2: Current Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce equalised Chris Nicholl’s early opener, but a big Roker crowd of 41,141 saw the newly-promoted Wearsiders sunk by a Charlie George goal right on half-time.

1981/82 SAFC 2 Saints 0: Sunderland snapped a six-game winless run to boost hopes of survival with a midweek victory thanks to Nick Pickering and Ally McCoist.

1982/83 SAFC 1 Saints 1: Ally McCoist’s opener on the hour mark was equalised by midfielder Steve Williams 14 minutes later as Sunderland made it three games unbeaten since an 8-0 drubbing at Watford. 1983/84 SAFC 0 Saints 2: Struggling Sunderland failed to build on a midweek win over Wolves as Steve Moran netted midway through each half.

1984/85 SAFC 3 Saints 1: Len Ashurst’s new-look side, with Clive Walker, Gary Bennett, Steve Berry and Howard Gayle all making debuts, won this opening-day battle. Bennett and Barry Venison netted inside six minutes, with Mark Proctor adding a third before David Armstrong replied late on.

1990/91 SAFC 1 Saints 0: Kevin Ball ensured a bright start to 1991 with a penalty winner three minutes into the second half of this New Year’s Day clash, lifting Sunderland out of the drop zone to fourth-bottom spot.

1996/97 SAFC 0 Saints 1: A pivotal defeat in the third last match of the campaign sent Peter Reid’s Sunderland towards relegation, Egil Ostenstad pouncing in the 22nd minute.

1999/00 SAFC 2 Saints 0: Kevin Phillips fired Peter Reid’s side to a dominant display, scoring both goals, the second coming from magnificent work from debutant sub winger Kevin Kilbane on the left flank. Phillips also missed a penalty.

2000/01 SAFC 2 Saints 2: Dean Richards bagged a last-gasp leveller for Saints, who led with a 13th-minute James Beattie strike but were pegged back by Niall Quinn (23) and Don Hutchison, with 10 minutes to go.

2001/02 SAFC 1 Saints 1: Sunderland slipped to 15th place after Jo Tessem bagged an 88th-minute equaliser for the visitors, cancelling out Jason McAteer’s 62nd-minute opener.

2002/03 SAFC 0 Saints 1: The second match of Sunderland’s 14-match losing streak to the end of the season, and relegation with just 19 points. James Beattie bagged the only goal five minutes into the second half.

2006/07 SAFC 1 Saints 1: Sunderland, still struggling under Roy Keane, fell to 19th place in the Championship despite this draw to end a two-match losing run. Gareth Bale grabbed a stoppage time leveller, cancelling out Ross Wallace’s 62nd-minute Sunderland opener.

2012/13 SAFC 1 Saints 1: A draw in their final home game left Paolo Di Canio’s Sunderland side still in relegation trouble. Phil Bardsley’s deflected opener was cancelled out by sub Jason Puncheon, who all but made themselves safe with the point.

2013/14 SAFC 2 Saints 2: Dominant Southampton looked sure to cruise to victory when Dejan Lovren doubled the lead given to them by Jay Rodriguez, but Fabio Borini instantly pulled a goal back, then Adam Johnson hit a 71st-minute leveller.

2014/15 SAFC 2 Saints 1: Jordi Gomez’s brace of penalties clinched three precious points as Dick Advocaat’s men moved towards safety against a Saints side lacking the verve shown for much of their impressive campaign. Sadio Mane levelled at 1-1.

2015/16: SAFC 0 Saints 1: Southampton snatched all three points with a second-half Dusan Tadic penalty after an utterly needless tackle by Yann M’Vila, when left-back Ryan Bertrand was going nowhere in the box. Dismal Sunderland had just one meaningful effort on goal.