Alex Charlton says…
Favourite goal: Chemsdine Talbi, Chelsea (A)
With the game all square at 1-1, we could’ve sat back and accepted a point, but instead we hit them on the break with a lethal counter.
Brian Brobbey’s hold up play was immense, pinning back the Chelsea defender for what felt like an eternity before Talbi’s calm and precise finish sealed the three points.
The result was one of the upsets of the season, for sure.
Favourite game: Newcastle United (A)
We were on a bad run of form and entered the derby as underdogs with a long list of injuries.
Luke O’Nien’s poor pass gifted them a goal and
I worried that we might take a battering at that point. This is Sunderland, though, the comeback kings of the division. Newcastle looked more and more nervous as the game progressed as we became increasingly threatening — Brobbey again the man to silence the doubters.
I couldn’t believe we’d done it and there’s nothing sweeter than beating them in their own backyard. Only one North East side in Europe next season, by the way!
Anth Gair says…
Favourite goal: Chemsdine Talbi, Burnley (H)
I was in the ground for this one, and I’m still angry on Talbi’s behalf.
Seventy two minutes gone, 2-0 up and cruising, and Talbi picks it up outside the box and curls an absolute beauty that clatters in off the underside of the bar. The whole Stadium of Light went up — pure technique, pure cheek, the sort of goal you watch back ten times before bed.
And here’s where I get the hump.
It hasn’t turned up on a single ‘goal of the season’ highlight reel. Not one. If a player from one of the so-called bigger clubs sticks that in, it’s on a loop for a fortnight and we’re told it’s a contender for the greatest goal in Premier League history. Talbi does it for Sunderland and it’s like it never happened. Do me a favour.
A close second — and it pains me to leave it out — is his last-minute winner at Stamford Bridge, running onto Brobbey’s lay off and rolling it into the corner to beat Chelsea and send us second in the league. Ice in the veins from a lad that age.
But the Burnley goal takes it. I was there, I saw it with my own eyes, and it deserved a damn sight more recognition than it ever got.
Favourite game: Bournemouth (H)
This one, and it isn’t close.
I was in my seat, like always, and we were 0-2 down inside fifteen minutes.
Amine Adli got the first, then Tyler Adams lobbed Robin Roefs from somewhere near the Witherwack, one of those goals you almost have to applaud through gritted teeth. And yet I spent the whole of that opening spell turning to the people around me telling them, flat out, that we were going to win this. I just fancied us. Don’t ask me to explain it.
Here’s the thing, though: there was no real turning point.
We were brilliant. They’d nicked two on the break and we were still the better side, and you could feel it all around the ground. Enzo Le Fée rolled his sleeves up and buried the penalty; Bertrand Traoré had us level within a minute of the restart, and then Brobbey came off the bench and nodded home Le Fée’s corner to finish the job.
It was the first time we’d ever come from two goals down to win a Premier League game. Let that sink in. It moved us up to fourth and kept us unbeaten at the Stadium of Light during our first season back.
More than that, it put us on the map, sending a message to the rest of the league that we weren’t to be taken lightly and that we weren’t here to make up the numbers. That was the day everybody else had to start taking Sunderland seriously.
Ben McKevitt says…
Favourite goal: Nick Woltemade, Newcastle (H)
My favourite goal was counterintuitively scored by an opposition player — although I’m not sure whether he knew where he was at the time.
My nerves were frazzled going into that first derby day and it was a very tight affair throughout most of the game, with neither team wanting to take the first and ultimately decisive hit, but step forward our good friend from Germany, Nick Woltemade.
To this day, I genuinely can’t understand what he was doing.
It was a sensational cross from Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete’s clap may have been off-putting, but to produce a finish of that quality when facing your own goal is incredible. The stadium erupted with pure delight and the rest is history really — three essential points on our way to Europe.
There have been so many important and/or high quality goals scored over the course of this campaign, but this one takes the biscuit for me due to the occasion and the pure humour of it all.
It’s not standard procedure to laugh when you go ahead in a game of that procedure but that’s what I did then and it’s what I’ve done ever since. Their £70 million star striker hasn’t been the same since, either — hilarious and utterly embarrassing for the Visitors.
Favourite game: Arsenal (H)
At that point, we had a very proud home record and the start of the season had been electric, but expectations were being tempered going into this clash.
Arsenal had an incredible defensive record wherein they’d barely conceded a goal months; it was going to have to be a colossal performance to get anything from the game — especially if they scored, yet the performance that the lads put in, especially in the first half, was incredible.
Dan Ballard’s electric finish put us ahead and Arsenal didn’t seem to have the battle or fight to compete.
They pushed onto us in the second half and trailing 1-2 going into the ninetieth minute, we witnessed a spectacular feat of athleticism and desire, culminating in Brian Brobbey’s equaliser. Leaving the stadium, we were on cloud nine — nobody scores against Arsenal, never mind two to keep the unbeaten home record intact.
Bonus points for this game, as it was the first time my own mother had ever been to the Stadium of Light…and what a game to go to!
Ian Bendelow says…
Favourite goal: Brian Brobbey, Arsenal (H)
It wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty was it? Then again, it was.
Brian Brobbey threw himself at the ball like he was demolishing a cooling tower, yet this strike was so much more than just a point rescued. It had everything: it was late, it was dramatic and it brought the house down.
However, it was what it said about this football club which was the most important factor. On one hand it was the continuation of an unparalleled sequence of events which began with Eliezer Mayenda’s late strike at Coventry, but on the other, it marked our arrival on a different plane.
It truly cemented our position as a good Premier League side, and it was felt in the celebrations.
I wrote at the time: “Row 31 became row 28. Seat 430 became seat 435. There was a rearranging of the layout at the Stadium of Light as, not for the first time, this remarkable side took you to a place you didn’t expect to be in more ways than one”.
I think that pretty much sums it up.
Favourite game: Newcastle (A)
Sometimes you just have to go with the obvious. But my God, there were some close contenders, with notable mentions for about ten other games.
This season has been about redemption.
Luke O’Nien as club captain in the Premier League and Sunderland returning to the heights mere years after their lowest point. But the victory twelve miles up the road made a more personal point, the riposte to the jibes, mockery and belittling served up like a cup of cold sick by our neighbours for almost a decade.
This was the release of pent-up, visceral anger and justice that we all felt so acutely. A right hook containing such torque Newcastle were left on the canvas dazed and confused. That second half showing was controlled, dominant and utterly ruthless — and our dear friends will, just like us, carry it inside them forever.
What a day.
Jon Guy says…
Favourite goal: Brian Brobbey, Newcastle (A)
Just because of its importance to everyone at the club for different reasons. It was also a class build up and the timing was brilliant.
Favourite game: Arsenal (H)
This was the big test at home and we’d been written off as not having a chance.
We more than held our own, dominated for decent periods and Dan Ballard’s goal would’ve been my favourite if it hadn’t been for Brobbey’s — and he played a storming role against the new Premier League champions.
It might’ve been a draw but for me, the performance showed we were more than worthy of being in the division.
Lee Morrison says…
Favourite goal: Brian Brobbey, Newcastle (A)
I mean, I could pick any of them, really. But if pushed, can you really do any better than a last-minute winner at the landfill?
It wasn’t just the finish: it was the role of Enzo Le Fée in the build up.
Taking the ball and then proceeding to commit a double nutmeg in a move that should’ve done more damage to Dan Burn’s career than his punctured lung, the assist was exquisite and it then came to Brobbey.
With the sort of strength that would see him beat Thor in an arm wrestle, he held the ball up brilliantly and finished accordingly, sending everyone into absolute delirium.
Considering the start of that game and the fact that our players had to ensure racial abuse, it was a superb bit of poetic justice.
Favourite game: Chelsea (H)
Perhaps I’m a goldfish, but the most games leading to the fantastic end to the season are definitely some of my favourites, and this was epitomised by the Chelsea game.
When the fixtures came out, I was sincerely hoping that we would be safe before the final game. I didn’t fancy our chances of getting a result against a team like Chelsea, but the reality couldn’t have been any different.
Given that it was a year to the day since our triumph at Wembley, the atmosphere and build up to the game was immense. The noise inside the ground was some of the best that I’ve experienced, especially over the full duration of the game itself.
And then we’ve got the actual match.
Seeing Luke O’Nien and Trai Hume combine in a League One fever dream was absolutely superb, and that’s without even thinking about the passion in Hume’s celebration, where he channelled his inner Donkey Kong. The entire team put in a hell of a shift and it resulted in European football having just been promoted.
It was a brilliant game to top off a truly brilliant season.
Malc Dugdale says…
Favourite goal: Chris Rigg, Aston Villa (A)
The day that eighteen-year-old Rigg bent his first Premier League goal inside the far post is right up there.
We’d gone behind in the first minute to a very lively Ollie Watkins, but Rigg’s composure to take a touch and curl it so deftly after the layoff from Noah Sadiki was beautiful, and fitting of a footballer way older and much more experienced.
The goal has sort of faded as one memory of a game that turned into a basketball face-off; the one time we went until the end and didn’t quite get anything from the game when a point each would’ve been valid, and maybe even more.
Rigg got his goal though, and I’m sure it will be the first of many in red and white. Chuffed for the kid and I expect six or eight goals or more from him across next season’s Premier League, cup and European campaigns.
Favourite game: Bournemouth (H)
I have to agree with my pal Mike that this game was my favourite of the season, and despite them hardly being one of the more exciting team names in the league, I went to see it live.
It was a close call between this and the final day against Chelsea but when you remove the emotion and euphoria of European qualification for the first time in over fifty years, what we did against Bournemouth was so so impressive. And it was two days after my birthday, so it rounded off my birthday week a treat.
The whole thing was an emotional rollercoaster — two goals down inside fifteen minutes and we hadn’t even played that badly, but when we got the penalty and Enzo Le Fée converted it on the half-hour mark, you could feel in the air that we weren’t done.
For any team to come back from two goals down and to win the game is very rare, but with goals from Bertrand Traoré and Brian Brobbey, we took the lead and never looked back.
Our motto of “Til the End” was demonstrated in spades that day, as was our ethos that you’re never beaten even when you’re a couple of goals behind, and thankfully we saw that attitude time and again. Such a great win and one of several comebacks, but the best for me and the atmosphere was amazing.
So pleased I made the seven-hour round trip!
Michael Dunne says…
Favourite goal: Wilson Isidor, Brentford (H)
There’s so many to choose from and it’s hard to pick just one, but I’m going to go for Isidor’s header against Brentford at the Stadium of Light.
This felt like a big moment as after the big first day win against West Ham.
We followed it up with a very poor performance against Burnley at Turf Moor and going into this game at home against the Bees, it was hoped we could pick up another win but Brentford took the lead late in the second half after missing a penalty too and truthfully played us off the park at times (though not creating much).
In the final ten minutes, we played ‘til the end (as our motto suggests) and through sheer grit and determination, Isidor won us the game in added time after equalising minutes earlier through an Enzo Le Fée penalty.
This made it two wins from three. It felt like a big moment even so early in the season and it set the tone for what was to come.
Favourite game: Bournemouth (H)
After travelling over in a thunderstorm and severe rainfall, I was certainly questioning my sanity when we went 0-2 down to Bournemouth. In actual fact, we didn’t play badly whatsoever in this game and two brilliant goals from the Cherries saw them take the lead against the run of play.
This game was another fine example of how we displayed such good team spirit and character to keep going and after Le Fée scored a penalty just before half time, it set up a brilliant second half where Bertrand Traoré and Brian Brobbey swung the game in our favour.
This game was a battle of different styles and Bournemouth certainly contributed a lot to the contest, playing some really good football with Antoine Semenyo standing out throughout.
The win made the shocking conditions worthwhile and as it transpired, this was a brilliant game between the two teams from the Premier League that qualified for the Europa League.
Tom Albrighton says…
Favourite goal: Eliezer Mayenda, West Ham (H)
Ultimately, Sunderland scored many a better goal over the course of the season but for me, the favourite simply has to be the first.
We didn’t know it at the time, but Mayenda’s header against West Ham on the opening day was to set the tone for an entire season.
What was so special about the goal was how meaningful it was — the first Premier League goal in nearly a decade at the Stadium of Light to confirm once and for all that Sunderland we’re indeed, so back.
Favourite game: Newcastle (H)
Not a classic and not dripping in quality, but after the first league game between the local rivals for what felt like an eternity, to run out winners was the icing on the cake.
The derby was everything we wanted it to be: passionate, raucous and feral in equal measure.
The atmosphere was incredible; you could almost feel your blood fizz with the excitement on offer and although the game wasn’t a footballing feast, it lived up to the billing and lent itself to everything that makes Sunderland so special and why this team has been a success almost all season long.
The standout moments were of course the sublime tifo, the iconic header from a certain Mr Woltemade and the joyous celebration post-whistle only a derby victory can bring — even more so when set against the background of both teams’ recent histories.
