2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland See Off Leeds For A Precious Away Victory!

Andrew Smithson says…

Back to basics and back to our best

It wasn’t a classic but the performance against Leeds showcased a lot of Sunderland’s best attributes under Régis Le Bris.

The team was organised, focused and put their bodies on the line, and whilst they didn’t create too much, they didn’t need to because they got the job done without having to stretch themselves.

Considering how much was made about the Elland Road atmosphere and how good Leeds are under the lights, you have to credit Sunderland’s resilience and mental toughness and to come back from a run of disappointing results in the league with two goals and two encouraging results on the road was the perfect response.

New and old coming to the fore!

The starting eleven featured a few enforced changes and the side was arguably the least experienced we’ve seen since our return to the Premier League.

Not one player looked out of place, with the stalwarts as committed as ever and the two faces making their full debuts at this level — Melker Ellborg and Luke O’Nien — slotting in perfectly too.

Whereas we all knew O’Nien could do it, the goalkeeper was an unknown quantity yet he couldn’t have asked for a better night. So far so good for Ellborg, who on first showing seems composed and good with his feet — and could turn out to be another excellent find from relative obscurity.

Let’s not forget that he wasn’t even a regular at Malmo, so for him to seem so mature was hugely encouraging, and he’ll have certainty appreciated the efforts of those in front of him that worked so hard to make his life relatively easy.

The treatment table remains occupied

Although the lads coming in as a result of the absences have done well, the squad is now getting stretched to breaking point.

Losing Robin Roefs would’ve hampered many other sides but whilst we seemed to navigate that loss, we can’t catch a break, with Bertrand Traorè the latest to get another knock and at a time when his presence would’ve been very handy.

Over and out!

No more problems for me.

The Lads are class and I’m loving how the season is shaping up!

Ciaran McKenna says…

An excellent result!

Elland Road is a tough place to go — especially with something of a patchwork starting eleven — but that was an extremely impressive performance.

We weren’t too dangerous in the final third but our defensive display was absolutely enough to get all three points. Each and every player put their all into that win and its made even better with it getting us to the forty point mark.

Now I hope we can build and push on.

Luke O’Nien and Melker Elborg impress

Being thrown into the mix for your Premier League debut is something I imagine would be rather daunting, but they fitted in in seamlessly.

Elborg looked a but nervous to begin with but he shook it off quickly and earned his clean sheet, whilst O’Nien continued his run of ‘player of the match’ awards and was very deserving of it.

I loved watching his celebrations at the end, too. Legend.

Nilson Angulo catches the eye

I really enjoyed his contribution.

I thought he was positive on the ball and used it well when he got it, but also used his energy and pace to defend diligently when it was needed. This sort of game doesn’t strike me as Angulo’s forte, but he’ll clearly do what’s needed in order to help the team.

He’s starting to show us what he can do and I hope he can push on now.

Tough luck for Bertrand Traoré

I could’ve easily gone for four positives but I thought this was worth a mention.

I really like Traorè and in the games just before AFCON, he was starting to show his class so I was looking forward to him coming back into the fold. Sadly, he didn’t look very comfortable at all when coming back off.

I hope it’s nothing serious.

John Wilson says…

Sunderland’s approach works!

That plan to frustrate, block, hold up and just make it so very difficult for Leeds to get anything out of the game was nervy but nevertheless, what a superb three points.

What a battling performance, and we’ve got the forty points — now to kick on.

The red and white army deliver again

When watching the match on TV, our fans could be heard loudly and clearly.

They dug in just like the team in order to carry us over the line, and could be heard on TNT all through the game.

It was also lovely to see Granit Xhaka give Luke O’Nien his award. Full of praise, and great respect for each other.

Some strange applications of the rules

As neutrals (which we’re not!), there’s a lot wrong with the rules that referees have allowed to creep into the game.

Pulling and pushing, headlocks, playacting, diving, time wasting, towels, twelve minutes of added time…we did tonight what many teams do to us.

It’s not pretty and it’s not good for the purists, but we don’t care.

A poor but successful penalty from Habib Diarra

I don’t know what goes on on the training ground, but Diarra’s penalty was very poor.

If you’re going to put the ball down the middle, the at least blast it!

He was a lucky boy, and why did Enzo Le Fée not take it? All good in the end, but gosh, it was ‘heart in the mouth’ stuff.

Malc Dugdale says…

What a defensive display!

That was proper old-school, ‘backs against the wall’ work by the defence and our backup keeper, and they were as much the reason we won that as the penalty taker.

A masterclass, and Luke O’Nien won ‘player of the match’ after everyone said he was the potential weak link before a ball was kicked.

Superb.

Sunderland finally get some VAR assistance

If that handball hadn’t been given, I would potentially have driven to Stockley Park and bulldozed the portakabin level, but one of the most blatant handballs was finally given.

We’ve had so much bad luck of late and to win that penalty and convert it sort of makes up for some of it.

Leeds will be seething but we played our strategy to a tee, and the only stat that matters is goals — just ask Coventry City.

Forty points achieved

We’ve hit the target we wanted to and we can now set a new one — as Granit Xhaka said so eloquently at the end.

This hoodoo of bad results has been ended with four points from two challenging away games, and the Lads have done an amazing job to achieve that.

We’re putting a good run of form together at the right time and the Mags — who are now four points behind us albeit with a game to catch up — are coming soon.

Incredible. There’s nothing this team can’t achieve.

A tale of two goalkeepers

Melker Ellborg did very little wrong, and conversely, the Geordie reject at the other end should’ve done far better with Habib Diarra’s spot kick.

I’m chuffed that Ellborg got a clean sheet and I’m also over the moon an ex-Mag was involved in the winner.

Nearly two weeks’ rest now and we kick on again — with a wee FA Cup tie in there to give the fringe players some time on the park. Sweet!

Lars Knutsen says…

Luke O’Nien – what a legend!

To have his first Premier League start as captain of Sunderland on the day. He was as competitive as ever at right back and effectively neutralised the dangerous Gudmudsson. With the debutant goalkeeper Ellborg looking very promising and not at all out of place, the defence was excellent, with very few shots getting through to test the Swede. That was important, as it restricted Leeds to very few chances.

Team Spirit Is Strong

At 66 minutes, the game suddenly livened up, with what looked like a great headed goal by Rodon, and, to be honest, my heart sank. It was given as an offside by VAR, and very quickly we were up at the other end, and after a clear handball by Ampadu, the referee again used VAR, but to award a penalty to us. Diarra stepped in in place of Le Fée; his shot was unconvincing, but the ball ended up in the net. Our first shot on target, but it shows that even though we are missing ten players, the uncompromising fight and team spirit of this group were still very evident.

Slow Start?

In a generally scrappy game, Leeds had a lot of “possession without purpose”. I felt in the first half hour the Sunderland midfield did not really get going, and were not affecting the game as they should. After 30 minutes we started pressing higher up the pitch, and threatened more. In the end it did not matter, as the defence was outstanding, with Ballard and Aldrete as solid and effective as ever.

Quiet Performers

There were a couple of players, such as Sadiki and Le Fée, who had quieter games than usual, but it would be churlish to pick on them on a night when we won at Elland Road. This was a solid team performance, for our third away win of the season, which takes us to the magic 40 points.