Sunderland secure first win of season as Isidor ends 17-year wait against Fulham

At the final whistle Álvaro Arbeloa provided a study in pensiveness while Régis Le Bris simply looked relieved.

An almost palpable fear of losing formed the subtext of a match decided when two of the Sunderland manager’s second-half substitutes, Habib Diarra and Wilson Isidor, combined for the latter to score.

Isidor’s goal not merely supplied Sunderland with their first win of the season while leaving Arbeloa’s side pointless but ended his side’s 17-year run without a Premier League victory against Fulham.

The tone of a cagey, risk averse, first half was raised by a typically superior central midfield performance on the part of Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki. Indeed the DR Congo international extinguished so many potential visiting fires that Fulham’s sole real chance during the opening 45 minutes involved Josh King finding himself confounded by geometry as he miscued a tightly angled opening conjured by Alex Iwobi. Otherwise the home goalkeeper, Robin Roefs, was left pretty much undisturbed.

That apart, a slightly nervous impasse endured. Despite dominating possession, Sunderland’s attacking edge proved anything but serrated, leaving Bernd Leno severely underemployed in Fulham’s goal.

It all left both Le Bris and Arbeloa with much to ponder at the interval. If the watching Sunderland owner, Kyril-Louis Dreyfus, required a reminder as to precisely why Le Bris is so keen to sign a specialist right winger and another striker before the transfer window’s closure he had received it.

At least Sunderland’s manager had Nordi Mukiele restored to central defence after injury. The former Paris Saint-Germain defender’s importance on Wearside was, not for the first time, underscored as, early in the second half, his tremendous sliding challenge blocked Gonzalo García’s path to a near certain goal following Sander Berge’s stellar through pass.

García has scored twice in his first two games since joining Fulham from Real Madrid but found Sunderland’s rearguard difficult to decode yet, perhaps sensing that the visitors were gaining the initiative, Le Bris made a double substitution.

On came Diarra and Isidor for the largely ineffective Nilson Angulo and Brian Brobbey. Within minutes Sunderland should have been ahead after Enzo Le Fée played a beautiful, first time, ball across goal.

It seemed easier for the on-rushing Isidor to score than miss but, somehow, he ended up striking the base of a post and, in the technical area, Le Bris ended up sinking to his knees in disappointment.

Poor Isidor looked mortified but redemption beckoned. Just moments later he surged on to another fabulous delivery across the box – from Diarra this time – and atonement arrived as his high velocity, cleanly incisive, shot whizzed past Leno.

Diarra and Isidor had succeeded in breathing new life into Sunderland – not to mention capitalising on Fulham’s high defensive line – but when the former’s cameo was to prove short-lived after an injury necessitated his replacement by Chris Rigg.

No matter, Diarra, like Isidor, had already done just enough.