Sunderland beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday afternoon

Alan Shearer has explained why Sunderland’s “impressive” display against Crystal Palace was not afforded more attention on Saturday night’s episode of Match of the Day.

The Black Cats came from behind to beat the Eagles 2-1 at the Stadium of Light, with goals from Enzo Le Fée and Brian Brobbey overturning a first-half opener from Yeremy Pino.

That result helped Regis Le Bris’ men to maintain their unbeaten run on home soil this season, while also moving them to within three points of the top four. But in the aftermath of the contest, headlines were dominated by Palace boss Oliver Glasner’s post-match press conference.

In an extraordinary media appearance, the Austrian claimed that he and his players have been “abandoned” by the board at Selhurst Park, while also openly bemoaning the decision to sell captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City this month.

And according to Shearer, it was this outburst that ultimately prevented him and the rest of the Match of the Day team from focusing on Sunderland at all during the highlights show.

What did Alan Shearer say about Sunderland?

Speaking on The Rest is Football, Shearer said: “Just before we move on, we have to mention Sunderland or, you know...”. Host Gary Lineker cheekily quipped: “Listen to Al, the new Sunderland fan!”

Fellow pundit Micah Richards interjected: “I don't know if you've seen Match of the Day, Gaz - well, apparently he's got some fantastic analysis ready for us”, to which Shearer responded: “I did, I had it. It was, honestly, Micah, the best piece of analysis you've ever seen! Let's talk about their home record, unbeaten at home this season, Sunderland. I mean, that is impressive.”

Richards went on to explain: “So, what happened, Gaz, since you didn't watch it, Sunderland obviously played Palace, and Sunderland won the game. So, normally on Match Of The Day, you go with the team who's won, you give them analysis, how they won the game, etc, etc.”

Lineker jokingly shot back: “Are you trying to tell me how Match of the Day works? Thanks for the reminder. It's been seven months. What's the show called? What is it?”

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Laughing, Richards continued: “So then, Al comes out and says, ‘Oh, I had some fantastic analysis for Sunderland. Oh, it was going to be absolutely amazing, but we've got to talk about the big news, and that was Glasner’. So now is a perfect opportunity for you to talk about Sunderland, Al, go on...”

Shearer then put across his side of the story, stating: “As I got to Manchester yesterday at 10am, and just before midnight, we were still on air, they did offer me the opportunity to go with the BBC iPlayer and put some analysis on it. I politely declined that offer. That is true, though, Micah, honestly.

“I thought, I'm going to have to leave Newcastle really early, because Man United vs Man City, I'll get caught in the traffic, I'll be late. I left Newcastle just after 7am, so I was in Salford at 10am. And then just before midnight, they said, ‘Do you want to do some analysis on Sunderland?’ You can imagine my reply.”

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