Sunderland v Everton: Premier League – live

8.49pm GMT Half-time reading Gary O’Neil was expected to return to Wolves after the sacking of Vitor Pereira, but an afternoon is a long time in football. Related: Wolves left stunned as Gary O’Neil walks away from talks to return as head coach 8.48pm GMT Half time: Sunderland 0-1 Everton Iliman Ndiaye’s thrilling solo goal separates the sides at the Stadium of Light. Everton were much the better team for half an hour – Jack Grealish hit the post, Thierno Barry missed a sitter – but Sunderland came on strong as half-time approached and are still in this game. 8.46pm GMT 45 min Two minutes of added time. 8.46pm GMT 44 min A big, swirling cross from the right is met at the far post by Ballard. His header hits the outstretched leg of his teammate Isidor, I think, and bounces up dangerously in front of goal. Keane sticks his head in first and gets the ball away. That was close. Everton need half-time, a phrase I didn’t think I’d be typing when they were in complete control earlier in the half. Updated at 8.46pm GMT 8.43pm GMT 43 min “If Xhaka doesn’t inspire the team to a win, then they’re taking a trip to the glue factory,” writes Matt Dony. “And he won’t get to come.” 8.42pm GMT 42 min The lively Traore zig-zags superbly between two Everton defenders on the edge of the area, forcing Keane to step out and make another terrific block tackle. 8.40pm GMT 39 min Le Fee slips an imaginative short pass between two Everton defenders to find Isidor in the area. He takes a touch and is about to shoot when Keane comes across to make a fine block tackle. 8.38pm GMT 38 min This is Sunderland’s best spell of the game. Traore sends Mykolenko for a hot dog and mustard, scoots down the right and drives a low cross that is booted away by Keane. 8.36pm GMT 36 min Xhaka’s ball into the box is headed up in the and loops towards Traore, whose volley is blocked. Moments later, after an excellent clearance at the far post by O’Brien, Geertruida shins over from the edge of the D. 8.35pm GMT 35 min Sunderland have improved on the ball in the last five minutes. Baby steps but you do wonder whether Everton will regret those near misses. Updated at 8.35pm GMT 8.32pm GMT 32 min Barry is booked for an inept sliding tackle on Sadiki. 8.31pm GMT 30 min Le Fee’s cross finds Traore in a bit space on the edge of the area. He has time to control but instead tries a first-time shot with his left foot. Traore swings at fresh air, the ball hits his standing foot and bounces away from goal. 8.29pm GMT 28 min: Great chance for Barry! Everton will want a second goal while they are so far on top. It should have come a moment ago when Grealish’s delicious, borderline erotic cross was sliced over from four yards by Barry. The only partial defence is that the ball bounced fractionally in front of him; even so, it was a sitter. Updated at 8.30pm GMT 8.28pm GMT 27 min “I’m not entirely sure with what term fits players of the Xhaka and Gueye ilk, but in rugby ‘glue player’ is quite often used,” writes Geoff Wignall. “It might sound a little condescending but is invariably approbative – and often it’s the captain so described.” I like that description – but are we sure we know what happens to these players when they retire? 8.26pm GMT 26 min Garner’s long free-kick is confidently claimed by Roefs, prompting the home fans to pay tribute to England cricket genius Joe Root. 8.25pm GMT 24 min “I confess to feeling grumpy about the new On The Ball puzzle,” writes Charles Antaki. “There’s no way of deducing the right answer from the first clue, and even with the second, all you’re doing is trying to read the mind of the setter, rather than working the answer out rationally. Admittedly I’ve been doing very badly on it but, taking advice from the self-help books I’ve been reading, I Refuse To Blame Myself.” With that attitude, you’ve got a beautiful life ahead. A big, beautiful life. 8.23pm GMT 22 min: Grealish hits the post! Gueye plays a short square pass to Grealish 22 yards from goal. He moves the ball onto his right foot, then reverses a daisy-cutter through the legs of Xhaka. It beats the sprawling Roefs and swerves onto the face near post. 8.22pm GMT 21 min Sunderland need to take a beat and compose themselves; they’re not really at the races. 8.19pm GMT 18 min Mukiele is booked, presumably for dissent. He’s fuming and is being dragged away by his teammates. 8.19pm GMT 17 min Sadiki, still angry about the goal, is booked for an old-fashioned reducer on Garner, steam coming out of his ears. 8.17pm GMT Sadiki fell over under a challenge from Barry near the touchline, allowing Ndiaye to collect the loose ball 40 yards from goal. He made straight for the Sunderland area, only one thing in his mind. He zipped between two defenders before veering to the left, away from two more.. That created the space for Ndiaye to screw a left-foot shot into the net from the edge of the area. A brilliant goal, all his own work. There’s VAR check for a foul by Barry on Sadiki but the goal is given. Updated at 8.21pm GMT 8.15pm GMT GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Everton (Ndiaye 15) A majestic solo goal from Iliman Ndiaye gives Everton the lead! Updated at 8.26pm GMT 8.14pm GMT 13 min Roefs’ long goalkick bounces a couple of times on the edge of the Everton area. Traore tries his luck but is off balance and shoots well wide. 8.13pm GMT 12 min A rare mistake from Xhaka, who telegraphs a square pass that is read and intercepted by Ndiaye. He runs from halfway to the edge of the area and tries to play a one-two with Barry. Geertruida cuts out the return pass; good job for Sunderland he did. 8.10pm GMT 9 min “On The Ball - 90 points, top eight per cent. It’s not for me to throw around words like ‘genius’ or ‘prodigy’ or ‘brilliant’,” writes David Brent Matt Dony. “That’s for others to say. Anyway, a few months ago, I did not expect to be hoping Sunderland lose so they don’t overtake Liverpool in November. Odd season so far.” 8.07pm GMT 7 min Dewsbury-Hall gets to the byline in the area and screws the ball back towards Ndiaye at the near post. His shot is blocked, as is Barry’s follow-up. 8.06pm GMT 6 min Now Sunderland are enjoying their first decent spell of possession. A sinuous run from Traroe gets the crowd excited before the move breaks down. Everton counter and Dewsbury-Hall’s long through pass towards Barry is cut out by the last defender, Mukiele I think. 8.05pm GMT 4 min A fair bit of early possession for Everton early doors. There’s nothing much to relate, though, apart from that Garner effort and the innate futility of existence. 8.01pm GMT 1 min James Garner kicks off for Everton – and almost scores himself after 11 seconds! He played it all the way back to Pickford, who tromboned a long ball to the edge of the Sunderland area. Barry headed it down to Garner, who whistled a half-volley just wide from 25 yards. Updated at 8.14pm GMT 7.58pm GMT The players are in the tunnel and ready for action. And so is Gary Naylor! “Just the 261 caps between Granit Xhaka and Idrissa Gana Gueye in the centre of the pitch today,” writes Our Gary. “What would you call them? ‘Star players’ seems a bit too glittery for the kind of work they do, but ‘Super-domestiques’ (as they say in cycling) feels a bit condescending to a pair of seasoned, clever footballers who make the most of what they have. “I suspect fads and tactics may come and go, but their kind are always needed and they will never go short of a contract until the legs give out.” Not sure what I’d call them, but every overachieving team needs one. Updated at 8.00pm GMT 7.52pm GMT Everton manager David Moyes didn’t get the warmest welcome on his return to the Stadium of Light. Related: ‘Football can sicken you’: Moyes knows game’s pain from his Sunderland exit 7.25pm GMT The secrets of Sunderland’s success The defenders Nordi Mukiele and Trai Hume and the midfielder Enzo Le Fée have been three of Sunderland’s best players this season, but have readily agreed to operate out of positions at times. “We have conversations about it,” says Le Bris. “In modern football, it’s very important to be adaptable.” The ‘side before self’ principle extends to the manager. “As a coach I don’t want to be the main man,” he says. “That’s not my purpose. I want to give knowledge and power to the players. I want them to be able to control situations and fix problems on the pitch.” Related: Smells like team spirit to Régis Le Bris as Sunderland confound the doubters 6.54pm GMT Team news Sunderland are unchanged from their dramatic victory at Chelsea. Thierno Barry replaces Beto in attack for Everton. Sunderland (3-4-2-1) Roefs; Mukiele, Ballard, Geertruida; Hume, Xhaka, Sadiki, Reinildo; Traore, Le Fee; Isidor. Substitutes: Patterson, Neil, Talbi, Brobbey, Rigg, Mayenda, O’Nien, Adingra, Masuaku. Everton (4-2-3-1) Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish; Barry. Substitutes: Travers, McNeil, Beto, Dibling, Coleman, Alcaraz, Rohl, Aznou, Iroegbunam. Referee Tom Bramall. 6.42pm GMT On the ball – guess the footballer The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for? Related: Upgrade your downtime with Guardian Puzzles 6.30pm GMT Preamble Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. The Premier League table has been a table of the unexpected for the last couple of months, but now the usual top three – Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool – are in place and that’s the end of the that. Wrong! Okay, possibly wrong! Sunderland, the team of the season so far, will jump back up to second if they beat Everton at the Stadium of Light. More importantly, in the grand scheme, a win would take them to 20 points – halfway to reaching 40, though you don’t need that many to avoid relegation any more. In the last two seasons, 27 points would have been enough. Everton’s relegation battles feel like a thing of the past, even if they are only four points above 18th-placed West Ham. Their away form – a win at Wolves and three defeats – has yet to hit the dizzy heights achieved earlier in the year when David Moyes returned to the club. But two of those defeats were at Anfield and the Etihad, so we shouldn’t read too much into it. At least not yet. Kick off 8pm.