By OkayGoal
Sunderland beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, with Enzo Le Fée’s 36th-minute penalty lifting them off the bottom of the Premier League, and Xabi Alonso insisting afterwards that his side were “not bullied”.
Brian Brobbey won the spot-kick when he rolled Levi Colwill and was brought down, and that was enough for Sunderland to claim their second league win of the season and their first since August. They did it despite losing their captain Granit Xhaka to injury in the opening minutes.
Sunderland go into the international break 19th on eight points, one above Crystal Palace. Chelsea drop out of the top four to fifth, two points behind Liverpool.
How did Sunderland beat Chelsea?
By winning the physical battle from the start. Brobbey gave Colwill and Wesley Fofana a hard afternoon, and he should have had a goal before the penalty. Chemsdine Talbi curled in a fine cross in the 15th minute that the Dutchman could not turn in, and just before the half-hour he took on Fofana as the last defender, only for his touch to take him wide.
The breakthrough came three minutes later. Brobbey held off Colwill in the box, went down under the challenge and the penalty was given. Le Fée sent Mike Penders the wrong way. Colwill, who had also been booked, did not come out for the second half.
Xhaka went down off the ball and limped off almost straight away, with Jules Ahoka replacing him. Ahoka was booked soon after coming on, but played the rest of the game on a yellow and won the ball back time and again in midfield.
Should Palmer have had a penalty?
Chelsea’s big complaint came in the 24th minute. Cole Palmer burst through and went down under a double challenge from Luke O’Nien and Ahoka right on the edge of the area, but VAR judged the contact to be outside the box and could not step in. Jamie Carragher called O’Nien’s tackle a “terrible challenge” on Sky Sports.
A minute later Morgan Rogers rose well to meet a Marco Palestra cross but headed it off target. That was about as close as Chelsea came in the first half, apart from a Pedro Neto shot and a 40-yard effort from Rogers, both comfortable for Robin Roefs.
Sunderland 1-0 Chelsea: where was the response?
It never really arrived. Alonso sent on Estêvão for Colwill at half-time and moved Moisés Caicedo into a makeshift centre-back role, then brought on Danny Welbeck and Malo Gusto, in his 100th Premier League appearance, for Neto and Palestra after 62 minutes.
Chelsea had 68.7% of the ball but only four shots on target. Thomas Meunier made a goal-saving tackle in the box to stop Rogers finding Estêvão, Roefs saved from Gusto and then a Palmer header, Geovany Quenda shot wide of the far post, and Welbeck headed an Estêvão free-kick over in stoppage time.
Sunderland had the better chance to make it 2-0. Substitute Wilson Isidor was clean through in the 77th minute, but Penders, who kept his place ahead of Emiliano Martinez as we expected in our Chelsea lineup, made a superb save.
‘Not bullied’: what did Alonso say?
Alonso rejected the idea that his side had been pushed around. He told Sky Sports: “Not bullied. I would say these were situations where we could have defended better. Situations that we could have got better advantages in attack. But the game was really even, really competitive, they were waiting for the chance and they got it.”
He was unhappy with the penalty, though: “I’m not happy with how we have defended that situation. It’s something we could avoid and something we have worked on during the week. To give a penalty from that action, it’s not good from us.”
On Palmer’s appeal, he added: “I haven’t seen Cole’s one but I’ve been told there’s a chance it could have been a penalty and it could have been given.”
‘The connection was perfect’: Le Bris on a win he needed
The result eases the pressure on Régis Le Bris, and he credited the Stadium of Light. He told Sky Sports: “It’s not an easy task because the schedule is so tough, every three days you have to reset and go again with different starting elevens. But today, the connection was perfect.”
He singled out the man who replaced his captain, and the striker who won the game: “Jules was impressive this afternoon. We need good players on the pitch. Brian is one of them. The strikers are rare, we have one really good striker. He trusts the club, the identity of the region. He showed this afternoon that he can fight until the end.”
Le Bris also said the Europa League and Carabao Cup had helped build depth by giving minutes to young players. Nordi Mukiele, back in the side as we tipped in our Sunderland lineup, was a big presence at the back alongside O’Nien.
Verdict: Chelsea were bullied, whatever Alonso says
Alonso can call it even, but Chelsea lost 63% of their duels in the first half and their centre-back was taken off at the break after being dominated by one striker. It is the second time in two international breaks they have been outmuscled going into the pause, after the 3-0 defeat at Brentford last month.
The longer worry is what happens with Chelsea without control in midfield, with Caicedo ending the game at centre-back after his fitness doubt during the week. For Sunderland, this was the sort of afternoon that saves a season. If Xhaka’s injury is not serious, they head to Aston Villa on 21 November with belief again.