Jack Rodwell has finally ended his marathon wait to taste victory when starting a Premier League match for Sunderland, as David Moyes' team demolished Crystal Palace 4-0 to break the midfielder's individual drought.
The 25-year-old, thus far unable to fulfil the promise he initially showed at Everton, has endured a terrible streak since moving to the Stadium of Light from Manchester City in August 2014, failing to win any of the 37 league games in which he has been named in the starting XI for the Black Cats.
Counting his final outings in sky blue, Rodwell had gone 39 league starts in total without coming out on top.
Much of the fault, at least on Wearside, lies with his team-mates, who have continually battled against the drop in recent years, Moyes the latest man charged with the unenviable task of steering the perennial relegation candidates to safety.
They took a step in the right direction on Saturday, hammering the woeful Eagles and getting one over on Moyes' predecessor Sam Allardyce at Selhurst Park.
As well as earning the team three much-needed points, the result also saw Rodwell end his dry spell.
39 - Jack Rodwell ended a Premier League record run of 39 consecutive starts without a victory (for both Man City and Sunderland). Relief.February 4, 2017
Although the winless run will have pained him, there is hope for Rodwell yet. After Derby County's Darren Moore (29), third on the list for such an unwanted sequence at a single club is none other than Gareth Bale, who went 22 starts at Tottenham before ending up on the winning side, and it does not seem to have done the Real Madrid superstar any harm in the long run.
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