Sunderland returned to the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the second time this season (following their FA Cup tie back in January) looking to replicate the result on the final away day of the 2025/2026 season.
With the prospect of European football for next season quickly fading into the distance, Sunderland required a win to keep their hopes alive for the final day of the season.
After a somewhat pedestrian first half performance, how did Régis Le Bris utilise his ‘finishers’ and tweak his tactical approach
to turn the game around and leave just a glimmer of hope for Sunderland going into a final day shootout against Chelsea?
Sunderland lineup
After a battling point against Manchester United in a game that Le Bris will feel aggrieved he didn’t walk away with all three points from, the fans were potentially expecting several more expansive changes to the side that drew the week prior, however in the end, only one change was made from that game.
With a chance to impress following his return to fitness, the only change came in the form of Nilson Angulo, who replaced Chemsdine Talbi on the left wing, whilst the remainder of the side stayed intact.
With Dan Ballard suspended for the remainder of the campaign, Omar Alderete and Nordi Mukiele partnered up in central defence with Lutsharel Geertruida retaining his place at right back following an impressive display against Manchester United.
Enzo Le Fée remained in the centre of the park, playing as the most advanced of the midfield trio of himself, Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki, whilst Trai Hume held his ‘hybrid’ position at right wing — although as we’ll touch on later, this was more a hybrid ‘floating’ role that allowed Sunderland’s shape to be fluid in possession.
Everton lineup
David Moyes was looking to provide Seamus Coleman with a positive result to crown his final home game for Everton, and with Idrissa Gueye ruled out due to injury, Moyes kept an unchanged eleven from the side that drew 2-2 with Crystal Palace the week prior.
Merlin Röhl was kept in the team despite playing outside of his regular position in the centre in favour of a shift to the wing, whilst Beto lead the line and Iliman Ndiaye made up the front three for the hosts.
Coleman wasn’t awarded a token start, with Moyes keeping the same settled back four and Jake O’Brien shuffled across to the right side of defence, allowing mainstay pairing of Michael Keane and James Tarkowski to remain central.
In midfield,James Garner paired with Tim Iroegbunam, whilst Kiernan Dewbury-Hall formed the tip of the spear in Moyes’ usual conservative 4-2-3-1 system.
With Everton setting up in a similar way to that of Sunderland, Moyes prefers his team to work without the ball. They retain an average of 44.8% possession in the league this season, which sits just 0.1% behind Sunderland’s 44.9%, therefore priding themselves on their defensive stability first and foremost.
A classic end-of-season affair?
It’s fair to say the opening exchanges of this one certainly had an ‘end-of-season’ feeling for both sides, with the tempo feeling rather lethargic and the passing rather wayward — yet what seemed to take Le Bris by surprise was the amount of possession Everton were offering Sunderland from the first whistle.
Seemingly working on the basis that the home side were going to come out fighting given it was their final chance to put their name in the European hat, Le Bris selected Hume knowing Sunderland were likely to require plenty of off-the-ball work.
That’s why, in a strange twist of fate, Everton completely stood off the away side and Sunderland ended the opening period with 63% possession, equalling their highest tally during a single period this season.
With Sunderland sacrificing one of their technical ball carriers in place of Hume, they were often left looking toothless when switching the ball horizontally to exploit a shifted defence from the initial actions of Angulo to beat his defender.
Neither side posed much in the way of attacking threat and despite all of their control, Sunderland found themselves 1-0 down at the break.
Röhl wasn’t closed down following an initial overload on the left and a whipped cross bounced out to find the German, who was then able to take a touch and his deflected effort skidded past Robin Roefs and into the Sunderland goal.
With an xG of 0.03, it was clear to see the effort was speculative and Roefs looked to have the initial strike covered; however, as they say, sometimes you’ve just got to shoot.
Geertruida and Mukiele show their rotational ability
One unintended consequence of the added possession Sunderland were offered was the flourishing tactical rotations displayed down the right hand side. Often, when in possession and depending on whoever generated the more favourable angle, either Mukiele or Geertruida would take turns advancing down the right flank whilst the other inverted to cover their teammate centrally.
There were mentions within publications that Sunderland had shifted from a ‘rest defence’ (which formulated a 2-3 system), to a 3-2 system of which one of the named players would be that of the two names mentioned above.
When discussing the term ‘rest defence’, this relates to the shape Sunderland retain in order to counter press and win the ball back — or will hold while in extended spells of possession in order to help smother counter-attacks.
Given that both Mukiele and Geertruida are more naturally suited to playing as central defenders than Hume, Sunderland are able to deploy a more aggressive counter-press utilising this system, and Geertruida especially was able to make some crucial tackles to prevent any Everton counters throughout the game as the full back finished with seven recoveries and also was 100% successful in his duels — 3/3 aerially & 2/2 on the ground.
“Here’s your friendly neighborhood Enzo!”
After shifting Le Fée back into a central position in recent weeks, Sunderland have been able to really see the best of the Frenchman and his ability to dictate with Xhaka patrolling behind him.
Just after the hour mark, Le Fée was once again able to show his technical ability as he threaded a wonderful through ball to Brian Brobbey, who was able to sit down Tarkowski before rifling the ball past Pickford to level up the game at 1-1.
Looking at the image above, we can see just how influential Le Fée has become in helping to support Brobbey.
As both players build a better connection, the frequency of passes will only increase and it’s clear that Le Fée has created the highest quality of chances from his passing into the feet of Brobbey, making the forward his most dangerous forward pass when it’s on.
Not long afterwards, Le Fée was involved in the action again — this time, getting onto the scoresheet himself.
Whilst the finish itself wasn’t one of his best, he was able to swivel and drill the ball low past Pickford following a great sweeping move that involved six different Sunderland players, starting all the way from the back and resulting in the go-ahead goal.
With Le Fée notching both a goal and an assist, he took himself up to eleven goal contributions for the season in the league with 5G/6A in his debut season — which for £21 million, feels like an absolute steal in the current market.
Régis’ Le Bris changes pay dividends
Although Le Bris has come under fire several times this season for his more conservative substitutions, this was a game in which Sunderland needed to push on and become more expansive, and Le Bris nailed each and every one of them.
His first change came as the equaliser was scored and saw Talbi replace Angulo after an hour, whilst three further changes saw Habib Diarra, Wilson Isidor and Chris Rigg replace Brobbey, Sadiki and Hume as the Lads pushed for a winning goal.
All four of the substitutes mentioned played a role in the third goal, which was a perfect showcase of Le Bris’ ‘finishers’ argument as they attacked tired legs and punished Everton in their search of an equalising goal.
With Sunderland securing all three points, they’re now at the top of the league for points taken from losing positions at twenty two, which is testament to the ethos and mantra Le Bris has tried to instil since his arrival in 2024.
One final push, Lads — ‘til the end!
Sunderland now find themselves on the precipice of qualifying for European football, which is something that couldn’t have even featured in the most deluded fan’s wildest dreams a year ago.
With our final home game of the season coming a year to the day since the Lads ran out at Wembley, no matter how things go, we have to be thankful for the amazing rollercoaster the last twelve months have provided — and we can’t be downhearted if things don’t go our way.
The players will be prepping for a Chelsea side licking their wounds after a cup final defeat and a midweek slog against Spurs. They’ll give their all on the pitch and will deserve every bit of support we can provide during what’s been one of best years supporting a Sunderland fan in over two decades.
Let’s get carried away. Let’s believe and most importantly, let’s support them ‘til the end.
