Heading into this week’s fixture away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, spirits and hopes were high – but it would be fair to say that expectations weren’t necessarily on the same level.
A week on from a fantastic win against Wolves, where Sunderland handily took all three points despite a less-than-stellar overall performance, the trip to London represented the beginning of a more difficult run of fixtures for the Lads. We knew this was coming, which had added to the joy felt from the brilliant start
to the season – this run is no joke, and getting points on board early seemed like a necessity ahead of it.
As it was revealed that our Paraguayan stalwart, Omar Alderete, would miss this game through concussion protocol, attention turned to the system and XI that Le Bris would elect to put out against the Blues. In the end, a back five was assembled, which allowed us to bring both Reinildo and Geertruida in, while keeping Hume, Mukiele and Ballard in after their impressive collective and respective performances against Wolves.
It’s a testament to the recruitment and depth in the squad these days and has been something certain parts of the fanbase have clamoured for.
But it may be down to this structural change that Sunderland found themselves down 1-0 in just the fourth minute at the Bridge.
The game got underway quickly, with Ballard getting himself into a fantastic area for a free header, which eventually ended up in Sanchez’s hands. It was a promising start, but hopes of an early lead were quickly dashed as a mix-up on the left flank led to a huge space for Garnacho to run into, blasting past Roefs in goal.
It was a hammer blow so early on and a reminder (just as at Old Trafford) of what can happen against teams with this level of quality.
From here, though, the lads were absolutely brilliant.
The usual suspects were at it again – Xhaka, Sadiki, Mukiele, Ballard all brought their A game today, and represented a wonderful spine for the team. Xhaka in particular had his work cut out for him, leading the team against a £200m Chelsea midfield consisting of Enzo Fernandez and the very impressive Moises Caicedo; and he was spectacular. It’s the type of performance we brought Xhaka in for, but that is something we could probably say every week at this point – he’s just been so good.
The equaliser that soon came was a tad messy but representative of what this team brings. A Mukiele long throw was met early, and a placed Traore strike eventually fell for Isidor to finish from close range for his fourth of the season.
With Isidor’s very own Henry celebration in the bag, and on level terms, the lads kept an excellent shape going into the second half. With the exception of a surging Xhaka run into their box, the remainder of the half offered up precious few opportunities for either side – until the 90th minute that is.
Regis had masterminded an unbelievable performance up until this point, and he topped it off masterfully with the introduction of Brian Brobbey and Chemsdine Talbi, who combined at the death to strike a killer blow into the Stamford Bridge faithful and send the Red and White contingent into a state of ecstasy.
Brobbey is an absolute specimen up front and did exactly what we expected of him, holding the ball up for what seemed like forever before rolling the ball to the onrushing Talbi to finish with ease. I haven’t been especially impressed with Talbi’s performances up until this point, especially compared to others, but that’s a moment of quality which shows what having faith in these young players can bring.
I’m sure I speak for many fans when the feeling of hopelessness reached a point during those League 1 years where the thought of facing off against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was so distant so as to be almost forgotten or impossible. But here we are. We’ve gone to London and brought back all three points, and we were worthy of them. The team is full of sheer quality. There’s nothing and nobody that we should be scared of in this league and I’m excited for every week – bring it on.
