Wilson Isidor, Eliezer Mayenda, Jobe Bellingham and the rest of Régis Le Bris’s vibrant young side are not about to give up on automatic promotion quite yet. This statement victory, secured thanks to Isidor’s fine winning goal, not merely preserved Sunderland’s unbeaten home record in the Championship this season but kept them fourth, only two points and one place behind a suddenly mortal-looking Sheffield United.
Three games without a win have left Chris Wilder’s team three points in arrears of the leaders, Leeds, and trailing second-placed Burnley on goal difference. But, after missing an early penalty, they more than played their part in an enthralling night of new year drama.
Wilder summed up a night when Le Bris’s switch to an unusually counterattacking gameplan paid dividends perfectly. “There was a big moment every 15 minutes,” he said. “It was tight but credit to Sunderland’s manager and their players. They defended with their lives, put everything on the line and we couldn’t find the quality we needed.”
Given that the round trip from Bramall Lane to the Stadium of Light is 260 miles by road, an 8pm kick-off on a public holiday coinciding with a wholesale public transport shutdown in the north-east was probably not the brightest of television scheduling ideas. Throw in the freezing sleet that would leave car windscreens in need of de-icing and it was clear the 42,276-strong crowd fully deserved to be entertained so richly by a series of dramatic subplots that compensated for the absence of some leading lights.
With both sides hobbled by injuries, Sheffield United arrived without, among others, their leading scorer, Tyrese Campbell, while Sunderland’s 17-year-old prodigy Chris Rigg remained in the treatment room.
No matter; the tension soon rose as the eagle-eyed referee, Matt Donohue, spotted Luke O’Nien’s vigorous tugging of Kieffer Moore’s shirt as a free-kick dropped into the area and he pointed immediately to the penalty spot. Moore, though, looked distinctly nervous and scuffed his kick too close to the excellent Anthony Patterson, who saved with his legs.
That 14th-minute reprieve galvanised an initially tentative Sunderland and when Jack Robinson made a mess of dealing with a clearance from the impressive home centre-half Chris Mepham, the ball dropped into Mayenda’s path and the forward found himself clean through with only Michael Cooper in front of him. Creditably Mayenda retained his composure and, poise personified, proceeded to beat the visiting goalkeeper courtesy of an exquisite left-foot shot.
The moment had arrived for Sheffield United’s Gus Hamer to emphasise precisely why he is such a coveted attacking midfielder and, sure enough, Hamer’s low cross-shot was swiftly deflected into his own goal by O’Nien.
It is no secret that Le Bris is in the market for a striker this month but, if Isidor keeps improving at this rate, he might yet save Sunderland some money. As United’s Sydie Peck forfeited possession in midfield the Zenit Saint Petersburg loanee sensed an opportunity and, after doing extremely well to dance around Anel Ahmedhodzic, Isidor duly whipped a low angled shot past Cooper.
after newsletter promotion
It was his seventh goal this season and left Wilder with much to ponder. As the outstanding Mayenda and Adil Aouchiche stretched their guests to the limit with their pace and persistence, United’s manager must have been concerned by the way Le Bris’s tactics had succeeded in repeatedly leaving his central defenders, Ahmedhodzic and Robinson, isolated and vulnerable.
Yet if his decision to shift his formation into much more of a 4-4-2 system seemed to be working, Le Bris remained mindful of his side’s unfortunate penchant for conceding late goals.
That flaw led the Wearsiders to slip to a draw at Blackburn and a defeat at Stoke in the past week alone and meant that, despite Isidor’s counterattacking pace frequently petrifying Wilder’s defence and Bellingham once again belying his 19 years in central midfield, the Stadium of Light remained distinctly edgy as Sunderland swayed in the face of a late visiting attacking storm.
“We had a little bit less control of the ball than usual but we were a big threat in behind,” said Le Bris. “Today we’re happy.”
