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Sunderland defender Luke O’Nien showed his strengths as captain on Saturday afternoon when helping out teammate Nazariy Rusyn.
The Black Cats were victorious on Saturday as they beat Norwich City 3-1 to end a three game losing streak.
Sunderland then took the lead on the stroke of half time through Neil, with Clarke skipping past three or four players before putting it on a plate for Neil to poke home.
But one key moment which may have slipped past the eyes of many was when the half time whistle was blown.
Captain boost teammate’s confidence
Rusyn has admitted to struggling to adapt to life in England since his move from Zorya Luhansk in the summer.
But on Saturday he made a number of intelligent runs which were not picked up by teammate
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However, one of those runs lead to leaving the space for Dan Neil to run into, which resulted in the second goal.
As the half time whistle went, captain O’Nien went straight over to Rusyn and gave him a massive hug to give him some encouragement, in what a feel good moment at the Stadium of Light.
O’nien showing his importance on and off the pitch
The £7.5k a week star has been recently playing out of position at centre back, due to a shortage of players in that position at the club. He has played every minute in the Championship so far this season.
Moments like these show exactly why the 28-year-old is such an important part of the team on and off the pitch.
O’Nien is in his sixth season at the Stadium of Light after joining from Wycombe Wanderers back in the summer of 2018.
