The identity of Sunderland’s preferred penalty taker has been a hotly-debated topic for the last couple of seasons, with a succession of different players having failed from 18 yards.
Luke O’Nien and Wilson Isidor both missed penalties last season, along with Patrick Roberts, who has subsequently left the club, while Enzo Le Fee failed from the spot this term when his Panenka-style effort was easily saved in the defeat at Brentford.
Le Fee looked to be readying himself to step up against yesterday, but instead of putting the ball on the spot, the Frenchman handed it to Diarra.
The Senegal international had never previously taken a penalty for Sunderland, but he confidently rolled the ball past Oxford goalkeeper Matt Ingram to score what proved to be the winner.
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“We like to keep a bit of unpredictability [over who is taking the penalties],” said Le Bris. “It was decided on the pitch.
“It is a really question of confidence and who feels they are best placed to do it. Habib is very confident when it comes to taking a penalty. And he did well. He was confident he would score, and he did.”
Le Bris is happy to continue to allow his players to take the lead over spot-kicks, and is confident there will be no bad blood between Le Fee and Diarra, even the former now appears to have ceded penalty-taking duties to the latter.
“Enzo was happy with the situation,” said Le Bris. “He was comfortable with the decision for Habib to take the penalty. I have no worries at all about the connection between the lads.”