Sunderland were stranded at Southampton Airport on Wednesday night as their charter flight was cancelled -- a misfortune which embodies the club's dreadful season so far. David Moyes' reign has been grounded, without a single victory or clean sheet from nine Premier League matches and just two points since he took over this summer.
Southampton's 1-0 win over the Black Cats ended hopes of the EFL Cup offering refuge from the second worst Premier League start this century (only Sheffield Wednesday's one point from their nine games in 1999-2000 beats it).
Moyes fielded almost a full-strength team at St Mary's but his team were beaten by a Saints team that made nine changes from their weekend's 1-1 draw at Manchester City.