A little nervy, somewhat disjointed at times and by no means a complete ninety-minute performance from Sunderland, but given the events of the past week, encompassing the fallout from the Ipswich loss and a lack of breakthroughs in the transfer market, this was the kind of victory that we were never going to turn our noses up at.
For everyone connected with the club, a marathon season awaits.
Points on the board and a genuine sense of momentum are vital, and after Wilson Isidor swept home his first goal of the campaign having failed to take an even more gilt-edged opportunity minutes earlier after being teed up by Granit Xhaka, he showed why the club were willing to extend his contract and why Régis Le Bris was determined to keep him on Wearside, to the point of being unusually forthright when asked about it two weeks prior.
A pressure game? High stakes? Maybe not, but don’t underestimate the importance of the win, not least because the naysayers would’ve been queuing up to throw verbal barbs had we not delivered when it mattered.
The victory itself and the fact that we’re now off and running for 2026/2027 felt far more satisfying than the display on which it was founded, as Sunderland weren’t brilliant on Sunday — far from it, in fact.
The Lads’ first half display was laboured, disjointed and flat, and half-chances for Trai Hume — as ever, industrious and wholehearted in his ill-fitting hybrid winger’s role — and Enzo Le Fée were about as close as we came to breaching a Fulham backline that for the most part looked relatively untroubled.
We were functional and reasonably solid, but the lack of sharpness in our attacking play was too glaring to overlook, and the likes of Chemsdine Talbi may have just cause to feel slightly peeved at a lack of opportunities at present.
Did we learn anything new? Probably not. And although it could be a somewhat mad dash towards the finishing line in the transfer market, as long as we get what we need — or as close to that as possible — all should be well.
The second half was much better. Slightly patchy, but with more purpose to our play and the introductions of Isidor and Diarra went a long way towards bringing about a genuine change of gear.
Sunderland have seldom dominated or dictated games under Le Bris and this was no different, but even though there’s an argument to suggest that his style of play must evolve in order to keep the Lads competitive, Isidor’s winning goal was vindication for the Frenchman’s approach to in-game management.
After Xhaka’s accurate cross from the left was slammed against the post by the Haitian international, he could very well have allowed his head to drop, but the opposite happened and when Habib Diarra played a dangerous ball into the sliver of green space in front of visiting goalkeeper Bernd Leno, Isidor made no mistake and gave Sunderland a priceless lead.
To my mind, such goals are exactly why any eagerness to sell him this summer was misguided.
He gives us something different and when Brian Brobbey isn’t quite impacting games as we’d like, Isidor is the kind of player that can make darting runs, pose defenders different questions and finish with confidence, and one would imagine his confidence will be soaring after this.
As expected, and despite the somewhat scratchy nature of the performance, Sunderland’s leading lights came to the fore on Sunday.
Nordi Mukiele was his usual classy self; Xhaka went about his business calmly and efficiently, and Noah Sadiki is becoming a real source of excitement in the middle.
Yes, Dan Ballard still looks some way short of his best and Hume’s role within the side on the basis more wingers arrive is sure to be hotly debated, but those are discussions for another day.
We all know what needs to be done and that there’s limited time in which to do it, and Florent Ghisolfi must ensure that Le Bris has the resources he needs to enable this squad to successfully compete on various fronts.
After an opening-day stumble at Ipswich, this was a welcome tonic and given the daunting run of games to come, a fixture from which we really needed to emerge with something to show for our efforts. That we did, and hopefully there are more positive developments to come as August gives way to September.
> _Premier League_
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> _Sunday 30 August 2026_
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> _Stadium of Light_
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> _Attendance: 46,781_
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> _Sunderland: 1 (Isidor 75’)_
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> _Fulham: 0_
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> _**Sunderland:** Roefs; Meunier, Mukiele, Ballard; Reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki; Le Fée (Mundle 90’), Hume, Angulo (Diarra 65’, Rigg 83’); Brobbey (Isidor 64’)_
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> _**Subs Not Used:** Ellborg, Alderete, O’Nien, Ahoka, Talbi_
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> _**Fulham:** Leno; Castagne (Sessegnon 68’), Andersen, Bassey; Robinson, Berge (Kevin 83’), Iwobi; Bobb (Charles 68’), King, Palacios (Smith Rowe 77’); Garcia_
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> _**Subs Not Used:** Zepa, Cuenca, Lecomte, Muniz, Reed_
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