2 Up, 0 Down: Sunderland Make Their European Dreams Come True!
· Yahoo Sports
John Wilson says…
What an atmosphere!On a glorious, memorable afternoon at the Stadium of Light, the stadium was bouncing and my ears were ringing for most of the match.
An absolute joy to behold. Everyone played their part and the Lads responded. Wow!
Visit afsport.lat for more information.
Enzo Le Fée — he’s magic, you know!Every last man and the staff deserve praise. Every player could’ve been man of the match but if I was pushed, I’d give it to Le Fée.
What a magician. Non-stop work rate. Superb. I can’t quite believe we’re in Europe, equalling those two seventh placings under Peter Reid. Dreamland!
Pastry problems!I couldn’t get a pie.
The curtain falls on a great seasonThis brilliant season has finished. Europe, Europe!
Jon Guy says…
The perfect end to an amazing seasonWhat a game. What a result, and we’re looking at the Europa League next season — typifying everything that team has done.
Calm assuredness and some wonderful football.
A landmark opening goalOur opener should highlight how good our recruitment has been — not just this year, but during the past several years.
Luke O’Nien to Trai Hume, who buries it, and while there’s been much said about our recruitment this season, the goal came from two lads who were with us in our darkest days.
This is the latest chapter in an amazing journey.
The fans deliver once againTalk about a twelfth man.
The fans were brilliant; we needed a hostile environment for Chelsea and we delivered — but we’d done so all season home and away.
Don’t forget the best fans in the world — and Europe needs to brace itself for what’s coming.
The poor poor visitorsOh dear.
The richest and most reputationally bankrupt club in the world said they’d thrash us and that we’d be relegated by Christmas, but we can dream of European adventures and they’ll focus on who they’ll draw in the second round of the League Cup.
I’ve supported the lads for fifty three years and this is one of the best days I’ve had.
Lars Knutsen says…
Another dominant performanceWe deserved this win.
Despite missing two regular centre backs, the team performed extremely well, keeping the pressure up on the London glamour boys and the completing a league double over Chelsea for the first time since 2001.
The midfield was outstanding, with Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra, Enzo Le Fée and Granit Xhaka dominant. But this was another eminent team effort which underlines the determination and togetherness of this group.
I watched the game with an American friend who’s now a converted Mackem, so we reflected on key moments from the season — our opening 3-0 salvo versus West Ham, the wins against Newcastle, the away victory at Chelsea, and our winter return to form after players returned from the African Cup of Nations.
It’s been memorable, to say the least.
Luke O’Nien delivers againWhat can I say about this guy that hasn’t already been said?
He’s struggled at times this season, but was on the team sheet on merit this week. He shows leadership, and a level of raw talent that was particularly evident versus Everton last week and again yesterday.
This has been a heck of a journey, and the BBC pointed out that O’Nien and Trai Hume — having been with Sunderland throughout the journey from League One — combined here for the first goal. O’Nien’s subtle headed assist meant that the ball didn’t touch the ground until nestling in the net.
We’ll need him in Europe next season.
A landmark day for SunderlandI defy anyone to find fault in what was a fantastic day for the club and the whole region.
This represents the re-emergence and comeback of a great football club; the rise has been happening particularly over the past two years since we named Régis Le Bris as head coach.
A cunning plan has been executed to perfection which has been great to see, and we have ended up back in European competition for the first time since our Cup Winners’ Cup campaign back in 1974.
The planning continues!Everyone in the squad has knitted together and they’ve matured as a team during the season. I’m sure extensive planning has already taken place, and last year, we were successful in recruiting a team rather than just talented individuals.
Rule number one: nobody leaves, including Lutsharel Geertruida and Wilson Isidor. We need another top striker, and two or three players competing for each position.
Former manager Sam Allardyce has remarked that it’s tough to get a victory on a Saturday after a European venture in midweek, but that’s why we’ll need a big squad.
Mark Wood says…
The Lads deliver when it mattersFully deserved win on the day; fully deserved over the course of the season, and for a European place.
Yet another win to go with all the other games this season where we deserved the points simply because we were the better side. Sunderland haven’t fluked their way into seventh spot — the team has been well drilled from the off and everyone knows their jobs.
It’s deserved from the way the club set about the recruitment right after the final whistle at Wembley last year and were determined that we wouldn’t be in a relegation fight.
We’re in Europe on merit and did anyone at that game or watching actually not want us to win because of the fear of what a European campaign might do? No. I couldn’t see anyone, either.
Images to last a lifetime!Another moment worthy of yet another photo opportunity for the squad on the pitch in a season of quite brilliant moments.
The two derby games, the win at Stamford Bridge, Wilson Isidor nearly winning it at Liverpool, the win at Everton (two, actually), going toe to toe with the Premier League heavyweights…it’s been a hell of a ride.
Europe was a very real possibility that we were all aware of after the result at Everton, but now that we’ve only gone and clinched it, I can’t quite believe it. It feels very much like uncharted territory for Sunderland AFC.
A genuine team performanceThere were great individual performances throughout the team, but I would give a collective ‘man of the match’ to them all because they did something that so many Sunderland sides of the past didn’t do: grasp the opportunity and seize the day.
One thing is for sure: if there are fans that didn’t think Sunderland should’ve qualified for Europe yet, the players definitely don’t share the sentiment.
They wanted this, alright.
A poor goal to concedeRobin Roefs has been magnificent all season but that was a soft one.
From that moment, it was all a bit nervy and along with the extra time, it seemed to be an hour’s worth of nail biting — even though it was probably less than half of that.
Everyone had the same looks and expression on their faces, which mirrored my own with my hand scratching my chin/over my mouth, but this team goes ‘Til the end and we didn’t seriously look like we were about to throw away the lead.
What a day.
Tom Albrighton says…
Passports at the ready, folks!You don’t need “two up, two down” — Sunderland are Europa League and that’s all you need to know.
Now, all together: “This could be Rotterdam or anywhere…”