Sunderland midfielder Yann M’Vila was only bettered by West Ham ace in key area.
French midfielder Yann M’Vila is not well known for his creative side, picked by his managers for his more destructive midfield influence instead.
In this week’s Premier League matches M’Vila showed he has more to his game than that, as he helped Sunderland to a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
The midfielder created five goalscoring chances in the draw, a figure bettered only by the predictably brilliant West Ham winger Dimitri Payet, but higher than Arsenal superstar Mesut Ozil managed.
| Team | Key Passes | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimitri Payet | West Ham | 6 |
| Yann M’Vila | Sunderland | 5 |
| Robbie Brady | Norwich | 4 |
| Troy Deeney | Watford | 4 |
| Jermain Defoe | Sunderland | 4 |
| Cesc Fàbregas | Chelsea | 4 |
| Wes Hoolahan | Norwich | 4 |
| Wayne Routledge | Swansea | 4 |
| Mesut Özil | Arsenal | 4 |
M’Vila is not the only Sunderland player to feature, with Jermain Defoe creating four chances. The figures show how well Sam Allardyce has got his players performing, and the effort they are putting in as they seek to haul themselves out of the drop zone.
25-year-old M’Vila has one goal and three assists to his name this season, but the last of these came back in October when he set up a goal in the derby win over rivals Newcastle.
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