Others may have given up on Adnan Januzaj, but David Moyes remains a huge fan of the Belgian winger.
The former Manchester United manager gave the youngster his professional debut in the 2013 Community Shield and was bailed out by him in a 2-1 victory at Sunderland in October of that year.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that the Scot was keen to bring Januzaj to the Stadium of Light after replacing Sam Allardyce over the summer.
But he can’t be too happy with the 21-year-old’s latest appearance on Wearside.
Sunderland were being run ragged by Arsenal, but were only a goal behind going into the last half hour.
And they took their chance when it arrived, with Jermain Defoe converting from the penalty spot after Duncan Watmore was brought down by Petr Čech.
1:54pm: Defoe equalises
Defoe smashes the ball into the back of the net from the penalty spot! It's 1-1 pic.twitter.com/8RivlGUHMj
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 29, 2016
Sensing an opportunity to get an undeserved but potentially crucial three points, Moyes unleashed Januzaj from the bench.
1:59pm: Januzaj replaces Steven Pienaar
69' @adnanjanuzaj returns to action! He replaces @therealstevenpi just after Giroud came on for Iwobi for Arsenal
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 29, 2016
And he certainly made an instant impact on the scoreline, albeit not in the direction Moyes would have hoped.
2:02pm: Giroud makes it 2-1
71' Arsenal are back in front. Giroud picks out at a cross and stabs the ball beyond Pickford. It's 2-1 to the visitors
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 29, 2016
2:06pm: Giroud scores again to make it 3-1
75' Giroud making an impact on his return, he's scored his second and Arsenal's third after #SAFC fail to deal with a corner. 3-1 Arsenal
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 29, 2016
2:07pm: Alexis Sánchez gets Arsenal’s fourth
77' It's 4-1 to the visitors after Sanchez gets is second of the afternoon. He turns a shot beyond Pickford after #SAFC struggle to clear
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 29, 2016
So, for those of you keeping score, Sunderland were level for four minutes before introducing Januzaj. Three minutes later, they were behind once more. And five minutes after that it was 4-1.
Januzaj and Moyes must be the first people to cross paths with the Black Cats and pass on their bad luck to everyone else.
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