Sunderland denied by Lammens and a referee

The goalkeeper nobody was talking about

Senne Lammens was not a name many Premier League fans had circled before kick-off at the Stadium of Light on Friday. By the final whistle, Sunderland knew his name very well. The United goalkeeper produced the kind of performance that earns a club a point on the road — the sort of display that looks routine on the scoresheet and infuriating on the highlights.

Sunderland pressed, created, and found Lammens in the way. A 0-0 draw is a flat result to read. It did not feel flat inside the ground.

The handball that wasn't — or was it?

The bigger flashpoint came when Sunderland appealed for a penalty after what appeared to be a handball inside the United box. The referee waved it away. Whether that was a clear miss or a genuinely tight call under the current handball laws — which, it has to be said, have confused everyone including the people who wrote them — is not fully established from the footage alone. What is established: Sunderland were furious, the Stadium of Light was furious, and Manchester United were very quietly relieved.

The handball laws have now produced so many sideline arguments that referees barely blink at the protests anymore. That doesn't mean this one was right.

What it means

A point apiece. For Sunderland, who have worked hard to re-establish themselves in the top flight, dropping points at home to a Manchester United side that offered relatively little going forward will sting. For United, a clean sheet — even a goalless, backs-to-the-wall one — is something to take on the road.

Lammens kept it. The referee helped. Sunderland will feel the Stadium of Light deserved more than this.