A lot can change in five-and-half months, but as an early winter chill descended on Wearside this week – both meteorologically and metaphorically – Sunderland were determined that some things should remain the same.
Just as they had beaten Chelsea on the final day of last season in May to ensure European qualification for the first time in 53 years, they did so again on Sunday to lift themselves off the bottom of the Premier League. The real triumph was that a patched-up defence, without the injured Dan Ballard and the banned Omar Alderete, kept Chelsea at enough distance to allow Robin Roefs a tranquil afternoon. Chelsea may be developing into a chaotic must-watch under Xabi Alonso but they were subdued here, and fall out of the top four.
Europe may be a blessing for Sunderland but the full-time mood had been bleak after the latest alarming performance in Thursday’s home defeat to Dinamo Zagreb. If Régis Le Bris had planned to create competition with the XI he selected to play Dinamo, a dire first-half performance had failed to really offer him that luxury of choice. Only the captain, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Meunier and Roefs survived the cull from the Europa League game. That the talismanic Xhaka, the subject of strong summer interest from his former coach Alonso, had his afternoon truncated by injury after less than three minutes felt like yet more of the ill fortune dogging Sunderland at present.
There was no feeling sorry for themselves, though. With this being the start of a challenging quartet of fixtures leading into the Tyne-Wear derby next month, it felt like this had to be attacked to prevent an early season hiccup turning into a full mid-season tangle with relegation trouble. And Chelsea were greeted with determination and aggression, with Xhaka’s withdrawal not blowing that plan off course. Two zesty incisions by Chemsdine Talbi in the opening quarter-hour caused Alonso’s men flutters, the first leading to a blocked Trai Hume shot and the second presenting Brian Brobbey with a clear opening that he would have expected to convert. The passion was there, but the precision maybe less so.
One promising counter after a Chelsea attack broke down was wasted when a loose pass from Hume saw Jules Ahoka, on for Xhaka, forced to drag down Moisés Caicedo and take a yellow card. Shortly afterwards Jarred Gillett took VAR consultation after a scruffy Luke O’Nien challenge on Cole Palmer elicited a penalty appeal. Play continued as it appeared O’Nien’s intervention was fractionally outside the area. Rogers headed wide from a Marco Palestra cross but still Chelsea were unable to capitalise on any potential home nerves. If anyone was prone to belated Halloween frights it was The Blues, particularly at the hands of Brobbey, who led the line with enormous presence. He took on and beat last man Wesley Fofana before steering his shot just too high, past Mike Penders’ near post.
That home effervescence occasionally threatened to bubble over, with Nordi Mukiele joining Ahoka in the book, much to the outrage of a pumped-up Stadium of Light. Yet it was the visitors who lost their composure when Gillett pointed to the spot in the 33rd minute, after Levi Colwill brought down Brobbey; the defender argued, not without justification, that the Dutch striker had a handful of his shirt too but the award stood. Enzo Le Fée, having failed to score a potentially gamechanging penalty here against Arsenal in September, never looked like missing this one, sending Penders the wrong way and dispatching into the goalkeeper’s bottom-right corner.
Such was Chelsea’s bluntness in the first 45 minutes that Alonso opted for not just a substitution but a reshuffle at the break, with Estêvão replacing Colwill, beefing up the attack with Caicedo slotting into the defence. Sunderland continued to fight tooth and nail. Meunier was booked for a late tackle on Caicedo and shortly after Brobbey was cautioned for wrestling Lavia to the ground, a continuation of an ongoing feud between the pair. When he was substituted for the enduringly popular Wilson Isidor halfway through the second period Chelsea must have breathed a sigh of relief, such was the battering their defence had taken from him but Le Bris must have considered that his frontline centre-forward was maybe a foul away from a second yellow.
Estêvão made one burst through the middle on to a Rogers pass but Reinaldo stepped across to snuff out the opportunity. Yet even with little possession Sunderland looked sharper. A ball broke for Isidor after Chelsea failed to clear Le Fée’s through ball, Penders saving and the rebound not breaking for the Frenchman before Pep Chavarría cleared. As the last 10 minutes approached Alonso sent on Geovany Quenda for Chavarría, and the young winger finally conjured a goal attempt worthy of the description, fizzing a shot just wide of Roefs’ far post via deflection.
A Palmer header from a Malo Gusto cross gently popping up into the midriff of Roefs was as good as it got. Talbi, finishing as he started, pinged one just wide from distance on the break as the home side rewarded their crowd’s vociferous faith.
