What were the positives and negatives from Sunderland’s victory over Middlesbrough.
The Lads won the league double against the Teessiders for the first time since 1962 with a remarkable 2-3 victory on Tuesday night. How did our writers evaluate the game?
John Wilson says…
Enzo Le Fée’s display
Trying to enjoy the match despite the stress and nerves, it was great to see some exquisite touches from Jobe, Chris Rigg, and Patrick Roberts, but especially Enzo. He arrived with much fanfare, but this game shown that he is a step above this level. Some fantastic flicks and trickery, and I can’t wait to watch him hold his own in the heart of midfield. He also possesses strength, stamina, and guts. A deserved’man of the match’ performance. Sunderland’s fighting spirit Again, despite occasionally shooting ourselves in the foot, we are confident in our ability to face any team and persevere. The resilience and team spirit are evident.
A slow, nervy start
Another bafflingly slow start. Of course, it doesn’t matter because we eventually regained control and won, but let’s be honest: Middlesbrough could have been two up before we got started. The officials did it for fun. There may not have been many negatives, but let us give it to the officials again. The referee had a decent game, but the two fouls on Paddy Roberts before they broke and opened the goal were horrible. Both challenges were illegal, with no reward, but who cares? A great victory. Everyone worked hard, and I’m proud of the team, the fans, and our fantastic French head coach. Now, can we beat the lower-ranked teams?
Malc Dugdale says…
A vital three points
We hadn’t won there in years, and we’d never needed the points as much, so it was a huge win and a pleasant season double over Middlesbrough. It was tough at times and unpleasant at others, and it carried some good fortune, but we won, which is huge. Isidor and Le Fée are at it again! The way Wilson Isidor sat Mark Travers down for the second goal was stunning to witness, but it was perhaps overshadowed by Enzo Le Fée’s touch to beat his man and cross for the winning (own) goal. This performance was far from ideal, but the class of our finest players shone through at key moments, and we deserved the narrow win, for me.
Soft goals conceded
The foul on Patrick Roberts resulted in ball-watching for the first goal, then Luke O’Nien and Jobe gave up possession for the equaliser. We need to get back to clean bedding since we won’t always have the rub of the green like last night. We had defensive homework to complete, but we narrowly missed it, which was the most important thing. Could Eliezer Mayenda take a larger role? I’m still perplexed as to why we don’t use Mayenda to position Le Fée in the middle early in games. He replaced Isidor when the big man appeared to be tiring, and he should have scored, as should Ian Poveda, but 5-2 would have been unfair on Middlesbrough.
When we get Romaine Mundle or Tommy Watson back, we can probably try other things, but it’s becoming very frustrating watching Le Fée out wide, knowing he can influence games more if we can get him more time on the ball in the centre.
Sod it, though — we won and went equal third with only goal difference keeping us out of the top three, so let’s enjoy that for now.
Mark Wood says…
A big win that keeps us right in contention at the top
We have a poor record at Middlesbrough, but I believe we deserved something from the game and were in control for lengthy minutes. Boro flew out of the gate for the first twenty minutes, but we looked the better team until halftime and had them on the ropes in the second half, all the way up to handing them an equaliser. More on that later. Patrick Roberts impresses. Roberts, in my opinion, was our most dangerous player, and he caused the Boro defenders fits all night.
Read more on sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply