Sunderland have enjoyed one of the must successful starts to a new season for a number of years and are sat at the top of the Championship table as focus turns towards the first international break of the campaign.
With Regis Le Bris in the dugout for the first time after he was finally named as successor to former permanent manager Michael Beale, the Black Cats put in a professional display to claim a 2-0 win at Cardiff City on the opening day of the season. Le Bris made a spectacular introduction to life at the Stadium of Light when young forward Eliezer Mayenda netted twice in a 4-0 hammering of Sheffield Wednesday and that was followed up by a hard-earned three points against Burnley, one of the pre-season promotion favourites. A perfect start to the season was rounded off last weekend as a Zak Swanson own goal and efforts from Alan Browne and Romaine Mundle all scored in a 3-1 win at former League One rivals Portsmouth.
As it stands, with the international break in full swing, Sunderland are the only club in the second tier with a perfect record and they will return to action with a visit to struggling Plymouth Argyle next weekend with a two-point lead at the top of the table. Le Bris will hope a number of his players emerge unscathed from representing their countries over the coming days – and two of them have already enjoyed success during their first game of the UEFA Nations League campaign.
With Black Cats full-back Trai Hume wearing the captains armband, Northern Ireland battled their way to a 2-0 home win against Luxembourg. Former Sunderland star Paddy McNair opened the scoring just after the ten-minute mark and it was current Black Cats centre-back Dan Ballard that doubled the lead just after the quarter-hour mark as their side enjoyed a comfortable win. One of the current members of the Sunderland squad are valued higher than every other player in his position within the Championship and has made it into the second tier’s highest valued eleven.
