Palace win can’t be a one-off, says Sunderland midfielder Larsson

Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson says the performance in their 4-0 win at Crystal Palace must act as a “minimum standard” as they look to drag themselves away from the Premier League relegation zone.

Four first-half goals for David Moyes’ side sent the travelling Wearsiders into raptures.

The Black Cats’ victory was their first in the division since December 17, a 1-0 win over Watford at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland remain bottom of the Premier League with 19 points from 24 games, but have drawn level with Palace and are just two points from safety.

And experienced midfielder Larsson has issued a rallying cry to his team-mates to keep up performance level as they bid to avoid the drop.

Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images

“It was a big boost to get the points at Palace,” said the Swede. “We have to keep going now and make sure this isn’t just a one-off.

“What this last week has done is drag other teams in; it isn’t a two-horse race now and you can see that by looking at the teams in and around us.

“We have to keep this up as our minimum standard now.

“The Palace game reminds me of playing Norwich away last year, it was played in similar circumstances and we could drag them in by winning and we have done that.

“Hopefully we can go on the way we did after that because we have shown what we can do.”