Sunderland maintained their fine start to the Premier League season with a draw against Everton
Granit Xhaka of Sunderland
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Granit Xhaka’s first goal for Sunderland capped a brilliant start to the Premier League season for the captain but he bemoaned the “sloppy mistakes” early on against Everton.
Monday night’s 1-1 draw livened up for the home team after the break but Xhaka was honest enough to admit the early phases of the game were below the standards required. It showed the levels the Swiss star aspires to and why his professionalism and standards are exactly what Sunderland need.
The captain’s deflected leveller followed Iliman Ndiaye’s opener for Everton but despite a dominant second-half performance, the Lads couldn’t score a second to take all three points in the game as Wilson Isidor missed a couple of big opportunities.
“We are a little bit disappointed because especially in front of our fans at home, we want to give them the three points,” said Xhaka on safc.com.
“It was a bad start to be honest. The first 25 minutes was not good enough. There were sloppy mistakes, too many mistakes for this level.
"After that we got better and better in the game and in the second half that’s what makes us strong. This emotion, this team spirit and this capacity as well to play. Because we have the quality to play and it means we had to take a point.”
On his first goal for Sunderland, which wouldn’t have gone in but for a wicked deflection off Everton’s James Tarkowski, he added: “It’s always nice to score the first goal for the new club and everyone knows I am very happy here and trying to give my best with all the things I can do day by day and in the games.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get the three points but I am always happy to help the team.
“It’s always good when you score quickly in the second half. Because we had another 45 minutes in front of us and to be honest with a little bit of luck we could have scored a second one. But we were a little bit lucky in the first 25 minutes we didn’t concede a second and a third.
"So in the end we are half disappointed, half happy. We take a point and move forward.”
Taking what they can from games at the Stadium of Light is crucial for Sunderland’s improving hopes of survival in the division and
Xhaka added: “We knew before the season here at home we need to take points.
“We are doing very well. Even when we were struggling in the first 25 minutes our supporters were there. That’s very important because there will be games where, at the start, not everything is going for us. But the support we are getting here as well as away from home is very good.”
Xhaka isn’t getting carried away with all the hype and maintained: “In the end we have to see what happens after 38 games, not after 10. But for sure if we continue like this, with this work, with this mentality then we can achieve our goals.”