A terrific Tees-Wear derby illuminated by the imagination and sweet passing incision of Sunderland’s outstanding Enzo Le Fée and Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney ended with Régis Le Bris’s visitors only three points off an automatic promotion place.
While Sunderland celebrated quite a comeback, Boro’s manager, Michael Carrick, looked almost close to tears after Le Fée, on loan from Roma, glided beyond Luke Ayling and a mortified Ryan Giles diverted the Frenchman’s late cross into his own net.
Not that a seventh-placed Boro side well capable of ending up in the playoffs should despair following a decent transfer window.
Just before kick‑off their new loan signing from Sevilla, Kelechi Iheanacho ambled on to the pitch and waved to his new public before being hugged by Carrick. Boro’s manager must have wished he had signed the former Leicester striker in time to play here but, initially, Iheanacho seemed almost surplus to requirements.
An apparently discombobulated Sunderland swiftly found themselves behind when Hackney’s beautifully calibrated through pass prefaced Delano Burgzorg accelerating clear. All that remained was for Burgzorg to send a right-foot shot whizzing low, and unerringly, beyond the visiting keeper’s reach after proving impervious to Luke O’Nien’s desperate last‑ditch tug on his shirt.
If it was easy to see why Boro rejected a £10m bid from Porto for Hackney on Monday, the 2,200 Sunderland supporters who had made the 30‑mile trip down the A19 were distinctly unimpressed with their side’s defending in the face of Boro’s pace suffused attacking.
“It was an intense game against a strong team and we needed to play with more passion and confidence,” Le Bris said. “But we have Enzo Le Fée and he is so talented. He helped us show we could take control and create chances.”
Le Bris had reason to be grateful when Marcus Forss spurned an excellent opportunity to double Boro’s lead after collecting another defence‑confounding pass from Hackney.
It proved costly as Dan Neil quickly equalised. The midfielder has caught the eye of Premier League clubs in recent months and demonstrated precisely why when he dispossessed Burgzorg before powering in a shot from just outside the area. Admittedly an element of luck was involved – the ball took a significant deflection off George Edmundson’s chest, wrong-footed Mark Travers – but, not for the first time, Sunderland had demonstrated resolve and resilience under pressure.
Almost incrementally Le Bris’s side worked their way back into things and, suddenly, a previously omnipotent Boro looked desperate to slow things down. At this juncture Carrick was presumably relieved that the 19‑year‑old Liverpool forward Jayden Danns had not signed his loan deal with the Wearside club early enough to be involved.
Boro had originally been all kaleidoscopic positional interchanging and a blur of intelligent passing and movement but by half-time they seemed almost cowed by Le Fée and co. Significantly it appeared Sunderland had fathomed a way to beat Carrick’s hitherto super efficient press.
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The home manager’s worst fears were realised when the increasingly impressive Wilson Isidor vindicated Le Bris’s decision to turn his loan from Zenit St Petersburg into a formal transfer by giving Sunderland the lead.
It started with Le Fée demonstrating why Roma paid Rennes more than £20m for his skills by delivering a through pass that tempted Travers off his line in the face of Isidor’s advance. When the French striker shaped to shoot, the goalkeeper fell for the deception and, having committed himself, was left to watch in horror as Isidor promptly rounded him before nonchalantly flicking the ball into the empty net.
The moment had arrived for the Redcar‑born Hackney to remind everyone he can play a bit too by equalising courtesy of the crispest of shots from the edge of the area after Aidan Morris’s interception of O’Nien’s slapdash pass to Jobe Bellingham.
Unfortunately for Carrick, Le Fée simply refused to be upstaged and, confronted by his adhesive first touch and high‑calibre cross poor Giles got his feet in a game-changing tangle.
“It’s a horrible way to lose a game,” Carrick said. “We started ever so well so it’s a tough one to take. It’s harsh, a cruel finish. I’m bitterly disappointed.”
Source: theguardian.com
