Wilson Isidor scored a 96th-minute winner for Sunderland just a day after the birth of his daughter.
Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor described his stoppage-time winner against Brentford as an “unbelievable” moment after capping off a busy week for the Frenchman.
The 25-year-old scored the decisive goal in the 96th minute at the Stadium of Light on Saturday – just one day after the birth of his daughter – and admitted he was overwhelmed by emotion at full-time. “I don't know, maybe it's a pinch-me moment because I still don't believe it,” Isidor said.
He continued after the game against Brentford: “It's just unbelievable what's happening to me. Not only today, but the last weeks and months – scoring my first Premier League goals, my birthday, yesterday the birth of my daughter, and today a late winner.”
“I'm so happy about it,” Isidor admitted following his winner in the Premier League at the Stadium of Light. “I didn't sleep for maybe 24 hours. I'm really tired. With the emotion, it's really tough, but I'm so proud of the team. We had such a good reaction after the first goal.”
Isidor praised Sunderland’s mentality, saying the squad’s belief never wavered after falling behind in the second half. “Till the end, yeah. We showed it last season, and we showed it again now,” he said. “When you have players like Granit [Xhaka], Nordi [Mukiele], all those experienced players, you cannot stop believing. Every time in training, everybody wants to win. So we're really happy about this, and I think it will continue all season.”
The striker also revealed what went through his mind when Xhaka delivered the cross for his dramatic winner. “I'm just seeing the ball over the defender and I just have to hit it,” Isidor said. “Everybody knows heading isn’t my biggest strength, but I just have to hit it. Then I don't know what happened with the goalkeeper – I just hit it.
“What a ball from Granit, it's amazing. After that, the noise I heard in my head was just incredible. Every time I say it, maybe I repeat myself, but we've got the best fans in England. I don't think many fans can make players feel emotion like Sunderland fans.”
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Isidor was visibly in tears as he left the pitch after full-time and admitted the emotion of the week caught up with him. “Yeah, maybe a little bit tired as well,” he said. “Tiredness, emotional happiness too – it was everything. It's normal for a man sometimes to get weak a bit, but it's normal.”
With Sunderland heading into the international break, Isidor said the late winner has given the squad a huge lift. “Yeah, of course, that's really important,” he added. “After Burnley, we were still confident, but around us, every time it was like, yeah, we lost. But this is the Premier League – it's normal. You cannot win every time, even if we try. But now I hope we build momentum, come back from the international break in the best way and go again.”
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