Alex Charlton says…
Régis Le Bris gets it right!
Whilst the players deserve all the praise that comes their way, I think Le Bris must be given immense credit.
His selection was spot on; four at the back was the correct call and Brian Brobbey did a stellar
job up top holding up the ball. Leaving out Trai Hume was a bold call, but the right one.
Our preparation was on point and the players understood and embraced the occasion.
Sunderland rise to the occasion
This team just gets it. From the first whistle, we got into them and didn’t give them any time to think.
They weren’t overawed and were disciplined whilst getting stuck in. I can’t remember a better quality Sunderlwnd side than this in my lifetime.
A bittersweet AFCON departure?
Hard to find a negative to be honest, but I guess losing some of these players for AFCON — Noah Sadiki, Reinildo, Bertrand Traoré et al were superb and will be missed.
It would’ve been nice for a Sunderland player to score, but now I’m being picky!
Calum Mills says…
Dan “The Beast” Ballard
Colossus. When he got home, I think he would’ve found Nick Woltemade in his pocket.
The lad was immense — which is just as well as I thought Omar Alderete started quite slowly and looked a bit off it early doors, but he gave the Newcastle forwards zero chances and thwarted every attack that came his way.
Granit Xhaka leads by example
I think everyone will agree that he ran the show for us in the middle of the park.
He was a shield for our back four and was often a route to goal for us at the other end.
He just allows our other midfielders to take up pockets of space to either block attacks or fill spaces to create a route forward.
Brian Brobbey makes his mark
The lad didn’t score but he was a brute up top, and Dan Burn and Malick Thiaw struggled with his presence.
Some of his hold up play was superb and if the referee was at all competent, he’d have booked Thiaw well before he finally did.
A poor refereeing display
An awful display from that clown.
Thiaw committed five fouls before he finally got booked for dissent. The booking of Nordi Mukiele was a joke as both he and Burn led with their knees, but as Burn decided to stay down crying, he deemed the tackle too strong.
Finally, he failed to book Fabian Schär for a clear deliberate trip on Brobbey — yet happily whipped a card out for Reinildo’s challenge on Anthony Gordon…where no contact was made!
John Wilson says…
What an atmosphere!
The crowd did their part by “greeting” the Mags at the stadium and for their warm up.
The crowd was superb throughout and I hardly heard their fans chanting despite sitting in the North East corner. Everyone sang loud and proud for the Lads — and for Gary Rowell.
A privilege to be there.
Brian Brobbey does the hard yards
He put a shift in, acting as a battering ram and getting nothing off the referee all game.
Solid as a rock and my man of the match.
Peter Bankes almost loses control
The ref was my only downer on a glorious afternoon.
He gave us very little and nearly lost the game at the end. He seemed to have a vendetta against Brobbey and Sunderland in general, but he couldn’t spoil our day, our win, our pride and our joy.
Happy days!
Lee Morrison says…
Sunderland’s “mentality monsters”!
For the unbelievers amongst us, pre-match nerves were based around the question of whether this group of players understood what this fixture meant.
Needless to say, there was no need to worry.
Nobody shirked a difficult challenge and the team’s desire to win second balls shone through. Yes, the game lacked quality but we definitely didn’t lack heart.
Nordi Mukiele stands out
I was slightly surprised to see Sky Sports award Dan Ballard with “Man of the Match”.
He was a colussus in the middle but for me, Nordi Mukiele deserves the most plaudits. I always assumed that the players’ shorts didn’t feature pockets but if you search deep down inside Nordi’s, you’ll find Anthony Gordon.
He didn’t get a sniff all game and finishing with a clean sheet and an assist just shows how brilliant his performance was.
A photo opportunity taken
One of the things that was worse than Michael Beale’s masterminding of the FA Cup tie was the aftermath — particularly the photo taken with Newcastle celebrating with their fans in our own stadium.
However, I’d take that every day for the revenge we got yesterday.
When you take part in stupid acts like that, people don’t forget, and the photo of this team celebrating with the South Stand is something that we’ll all remember.
Haway the lads!
Refereeing incompetence
Like many others have said, the referee was baffling, letting several incidents slide which should’ve been pulled up — and Brian Brobbey had every right to feel aggrieved at what was a bizarre refereeing performance.
During the early games, it felt like there was a well-received increase in quality from the officials when compared to what we endured in the Championship but with every passing week, the lines are blurring.
Thankfully, though, it had no impact on the performance and we walked away with all three points.
Mark Wood says…
What an occasion!
As the season has progressed, each home game has had the feel of “the biggest match of the season” for one reason or another, but this topped the lot.
Our fans were magnificent throughout in a boiling atmosphere and there was the tribute for Gary Rowell right before kick-off. It was a typical derby game — plenty of commitment all round and little goal action.
For overall endeavour and passage of play over the ninety minutes, we deserved to win it without offering a lot of goal threat, but neither did they.
Cheers, Nick!
I saw a Middlesborough player put the winner away for us with ruthless efficiency back in February, but this one was even better.
Woltemade was absolutely mercurial with his finish, launching his header in off the underside of the bar and thats exactly why Newcastle paid £65 million for him: to score spectacular goals like that and get the fans on their feet. An unfortunate moment for him, but in a game that for all the effort shown featured few clear cut openings, all it would take was a mistake like that.
Fortunately, we were the benefactors and our run against Newcastle goes on. It’s almost like we haven’t been away!
Officiating issues strike again
I try to look at referees objectively as I think they have a difficult job and the frustrations that I see regularly vented by supporters could be tinged with a liberal dose of bias, but dear Lord…this one?
Brian Brobbey was flattened every time the ball was cleared up to him, but without any free kick coming our way. Then on at least two occasions, when Sunderland were breaking from two positions, our players were fouled and although he did give the free kick our way, there was no yellow card for what were clearly bookable offences.
If any Newcastle players went down, he stopped the game — but not for anyone in a red and white shirt. He managed to keep it under control when tensions nearly boiled over towards the end, but overall I think he was pretty poor.
For you, Gary!
This one was for Gary Rowell. He would’ve loved it.
