Regis Le Bris and Granit Xhaka talked about a 1-0 victory for Sunderland against Tottenham.
The triumph put the hosts, who have the sixth best home record in the division, only two points behind Brentford. They are in the top half of the Premier League and have exceeded expectations.
‘Give this football club respect’
For Le Bris, the final stretch of this season should lay the foundations for the following campaign.
"It's the Premier League and we expected a tough opponent in difficult situations. It was a must-win for them and we did well with good energy. It was really important to have our principles and we found a way to score which was still important.
“We want to improve our style of play, we still want to enforce our ideas and we still have room for improvement in the final third. Top 10 is a good aim and we have to be consistent. The most important is the improvement.
"We will prepare next season with the way we play now. After three weeks it was a difficult game and I was a bit worried because you never know what can happen. The lads were consistent and for me that is the next layer."
Granit Xhaka, who spent seven seasons at Arsenal, has commandeered the camp towards mid-table comfort. He was signed in the summer from Bayer Leverkusen to bring leadership to the camp, and this triumph was the latest example of his positive impact on the [Black Cats](https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2025/12/15/sunderland/1244717-regis-le-bris-was-proud-and-happy-at-derby-day-success-for Sunderland.html) in the middle of the park.
*"After four weeks of not being at home, it was important to give the fans what they needed. We knew before the season that we can beat everyone if we stay like this with the hunger and desire and take the three points. Not the first time we play against a team who have changed manager. He [**Roberto de Zerbi*] has the mentality to win but we knew what we had to do and it was nearly a perfect game.
"Before the season, nobody expected us to be where we are. When I signed it was 2% chance of us staying up and now it is over 100%. Give this football club respect. We stay humble and see what we can do until the end."