Defoe punishes Palace error

LONDON — Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe cashed in on a horrendous defensive mix-up to give his struggling side a much-needed 1-0 win at Crystal Palace in the Premier League Monday. The team with the worst away record in the top flight pinched all three points at Selhurst Park to ruin Palace’s best start to a Premier League season thanks to former England forward Defoe’s persistence in the 80th minute. As Defoe tried to pounce on a loose ball, Scott Dann, trying to shield it, made a mess of his attempted clearance, poking the ball past indecisive keeper Wayne Hennessy into the path of the Sunderland striker who muscled through to tap into an empty net. The three points enabled Sunderland to move up to 18th with nine points, ahead of Bournemouth on goal difference and four in front of bottom club Aston Villa. Palace lie 10th with 19. “He is a classy finisher,” Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce said of Defoe. “If you want someone to chase down what looks like a lost cause, it’s him. Defoe not giving up is why the goalkeeper and defender messed up.” “I got that little bit of luck that you need for the goal and I was just delighted,” Defoe added on Sky Sports. “The lads put in the work during the international break and it paid off.” Palace, for all its second half pressure, missed the chance of a win which would have moved it to sixth in the table and came nearest to breaking the deadlock fleetingly when Bakary Sako’s speculative left-foot strike flew just wide. Sunderland, though, under new manager Allardyce, deserved only its second league win of the season defending stoutly and being enterprising on the counter attack. It had earlier come closest to scoring when defender Younes Kaboul’s header from a corner was cleared off the line by Yohan Cabaye. US to open Olympic qualifying bid vs. Costa Rica Reigning Olympic women’s soccer champion, the United States, will open its bid for a berth at next year’s Rio Games against Costa Rica on Feb. 10 after Monday’s draw in Miami for the CONCACAF qualifying championship. Eight qualified national teams were divided into two groups for the tournament, which sends two teams to the 2016 Summer Olympics and will be played in Texas with the final on Feb. 21 at Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium. The two finalists of the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) tournament will qualify directly to the Olympics. The US, which will be defending its CONCACAF title, was drawn in Group A along with Puerto Rico, Mexico and Costa Rica and will play its round-robin games at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, just outside Dallas. Group B comprises: Canada, Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. This group’s games will be played at BBVA Compass Stadium. Puerto Rico and Mexico will kick off the tournament on Feb. 10 with the US-Costa Rica match immediately following.