Sunderland secured their best result of the season to date as they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
There are around ten minutes left to play and Sunderland are starting to get a little giddy.
Much of this half has been spent resolutely defending the box but now it feels like there might just be something in the air. Usually Sunderland's General directing play from deep, Granit Xhaka has not long before been for a little adventure up front and after a gorgeous ball from Enzo Le Fée, he’s almost gone and scored. He jogs back with a wry smile. Wouldn’t that have been something?
Sunderland are getting braver. They press, and 3,000 just in front of them roar them on. So they tackle, and then press again, and then tackle again, and press and tackle again. The ball ends up going out for a throw in near Chelsea's corner flag and a little pocket of Stamford Bridge explodes like a 25-yard rocket has just flown into the top corner. Few believed Sunderland would start the season like this; no one in their wildest dreams would have believed that it could be this much fun.
An hour or so after the game, Reinildo is asked deadpan at what point Sunderland can start to dream of winning the title. He smiles and issues a gentle rebuke: "No, no. Don't talk this. Game by game, game by game." These are not normal times.
It all feels a little surreal and particularly because the opening exchanges suggested that this could yet be the day when reality bit at least a little, when for the first time Sunderland might look a team understandably inferior to their opposition. We knew Régis Le Bris was doing something a little different when the team news dropped, Reinildo recalled but Lutsharel Geertruida also handed his first start. Exactly what this would look like in practice was less clear. Sky Sports struggled to get to grips with it in their pre-match build up, guessing that it would be Trai Hume at left wing back and Nordi Mukiele on the other flank. In truth, there were moments in the first ten minutes when you wondered if anyone actually knew. Chelsea's opener came from a major malfunction, Hume and Geertruida left stranded high up the pitch as Alejandro Garnacho swept through to score. Le Bris cut an agitated figure on the touchline as he tried in vain to get instructions onto the pitch, Sunderland's right flank in particular left all in a muddle.
And then step by step, minute by minute, it all begins to make sense. Hume and Bertrand Traoré are increasingly on the same wavelength, snapping back into shape when Sunderland lose the ball to present an imposing 5-4-1 to Chelsea's creators. Geertruida begins to grow in confidence, choosing his moments to step out and apply pressure. Xhaka slows it down when he has the chance and slowly Sunderland start to get a foothold. Le Bris has taken a risk, the idea being that Sunderland can defend in numbers but retain some threat by having an extra man in midfield. Hume drifts infield when Sunderland win it back, another body meaning they don't have to launch it long and invite another wave of pressure. Noah Sadiki is a marvel, relentless out of possession and intelligent on it, carrying his team up the pitch and Chelsea back with him.
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Traoré wins a throw in, Sunderland's first anywhere near Chelsea's goal, and there is an almost comic sense of inevitability about it all. Enzo Maresca talked at length about long throws in his pre-match press conference, joking that he might call upon Liam Delap's dad. Sunderland somehow managed to sign Rory and never know about his long throw, thankfully there has been no such oversight with Nordi Mukiele. In it goes and bedlam duly ensues. Sunderland level.
Most remarkable is how relatively comfortable it feels thereafter. Chelsea dominate possession but they rarely open Sunderland up. It's waves of attack but not of chances. Garnacho fires over from distance, Enzo Fernandez twice. Some fairly dangerous crosses are swung in but if a defender doesn't head clear, Robin Roefs punches it into orbit. Maresca tweaks without much joy. Pedro Neto swaps sides, by now having been taken largely out of the game by Reinildo. Estevao comes on to see if he can have any joy against tiring legs but he doesn't, really. Reece James is stifled, Le Fée chasing him up and down the touchline from the first whistle to the moment he trudges off, exhausted.
Sunderland have their moments on the break, denied only by some impressive defending from Josh Acheampong. His withdrawal, possible to get more height into Chelsea's defence as a result of Brian Brobbey's introduction, is a crucial misstep by Maresca. Sunderland are growing in confidence, Le Bris's own subs well judged, and Chelsea's backline wavers.
Reinildo challenges Estevao and he has done over and over again today, wins the ball. Geertruida steps out the box and you think he has played the percentages, a long ball upfield to buy time and push Chelsea back. More valuable time eaten up, that priceless point another few seconds closer. Geertruida is having none of that. 90 minutes into his first start of the campaign, he starts flying up the pitch. Brobbey's run has been timed to perfection and he starts to hold off Tosin. And keeps doing it. And keeps doing. The game seems to slow almost completely to a half and you can feel the intake of breath from the away end. Hang on. Is this on? Go on? Geertruida runs beyond the backline and takes another defender with him, Chemsdine Talbi now in space. Brobbey finds him. Against Man Utd the winger had been in a similar position and went for power, driving his effort straight into the legs of Senne Lammens. He has been getting better and better in recent weeks, this moment drawing closer and closer. Now he makes no mistake, calmly finding the bottom corner. Not content with his near 100-metre dash, Geertruida digs a little deeper. He is first to the advertising hoardings, disappearing into a sea of red-and-white limbs. All over the pitch they find a little bit extra to race over and join him.
They almost have to be dragged away from the celebrations long off after the final whistle has been blown on this famous win. Afterwards Le Bris reflects on that moment ten minutes from time, when the away support roared on those challenges. It reinforced our identity to the team, Le Bris said. Sunderland are awkward, horrible to play against, aggressive, physical, determined. And now they are adding new layers, this their best performance in possession by a distance. They know now that they can suffer but also they can go anywhere and have a go.
You have to pinch yourself but yes, it's real and no, it was no fluke. This is a proper team. The good times are back.
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