Le Fée’s penalty stuns Chelsea and breathes life into defiant Sunderland
Sunderland defeated Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday, replicating their May triumph that secured European qualification, as Enzo Le Fée's 33rd-minute penalty moved the Black Cats off the Premier League bottom.
Just as they had beaten Chelsea on the final day of last season in May to ensure European qualification for the first time in 53 years, Sunderland replicated the feat on Sunday to lift themselves off the bottom of the Premier League table. The real triumph was that a patched-up defence, without the injured Dan Ballard and the banned Omar Alderete, kept Chelsea at enough distance to allow Robin Roefs a relatively tranquil afternoon.
European boost
Europe may be a blessing for Sunderland but the full-time mood had been bleak after their latest alarming performance in Thursday's home defeat to Dinamo Zagreb. If Régis Le Bris had planned to create competition with the XI he selected to play Dinamo, a dire first-half performance had failed to really offer him that luxury of choice. Only the captain, Granit Xhaka, Thomas Meunier and Roefs survived the cull from the Europa League game.
That the talismanic Xhaka, the subject of strong summer interest from his former coach Alonso, had his afternoon truncated by injury after less than three minutes felt like yet more of the ill fortune dogging Sunderland at present.
Related
