MARC GUEHI picked up where he left off with Palace by toasting a clean sheet.
The goalless stalemate is their tenth game unbeaten – their longest run in the Premier League.
Small consolation when the defender never thought he would even be playing in this game but it’s something.
Guehi slipped seamlessly back into his red and blue striped shirt after a dream move to Liverpool collapsed on transfer deadline day.
The England star should have been going through final preparations with the Premier League champions for Sunday’s clash with Burnley.
Instead, he is back in South London and wore the Palace captain’s armband while trying to put recent drama behind him.
He could not have wished for a more comfortable return as Sunderland settled for a point from kick-off and Guehi and his fellow defenders were rarely troubled.
The centre-back, who scored his first goal for England last Tuesday, should be celebrating a win rather than watching the Eagles’ forwards fluff it up front, along with some outstanding saves from Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs.
Yeremy Pino was the guilty party for the FA Cup holders. The £26million Spain forward missed a sitter in the first half that would probably have set the home side on their way to an easy win.
It would have been the perfect follow-up to their 3-0 drubbing of Aston Villa in the last game before the international break a fortnight ago – a match in which Guehi scored.
Pino was clean through on 36 minutes thanks to a piercing diagonal through ball by Daichi Kamada but with only keeper Roefs to beat, dragged his shot past the right-hand post.
Moments earlier, he skewed a similar effort wide of the mark in similar fashion.
And in the second half, Dutch keeper Roefs, who saved a penalty against Brentford in his last match, proved unbeatable.
He denied Kamada twice with superb saves from piercing long-range drives by the Japanese midfielder.
Roefs also blocked a close-range stab at goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta and a powerful volley from Palace debutant Christantus Uche.
Sunderland have their keeper to thank for clinching a first point on the road since rejoining the Premier League as a newly-promoted side.
For Palace, it is frustrating that their dominance did not pay off with three points.
Pino in particular will be kicking himself and the walls at how his trickery and mobility was not rewarded by one goal at least.
The summer signing had the beating of the visitors’ midfield – which included former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka – at every turn.
But his wastefulness in front of goal coupled with Roefs’ fine form and stoic defending by a team determined to grind it out for a draw got the better of him.
Even in the second half, when it looked as if Pino would make the breakthrough with a driving low shot from close range, Sunderland defender Omar Alderete threw his body in the way and deflected the ball over the bar to safety.
Guehi is now on a countdown to his Palace exit – most likely in January as his contract expires at the end of the season.
He settled back in with no problems and did his professional best to overcome the anguish of seeing his big move crumble.
But tomorrow he will no doubt be watching Liverpool take on Burnley and think what might have been and what might still be.
Sunderland will be buoyed by a draw but failed to mount a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.
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