David Moyes, the manager who oversaw a disastrous relegation for Sunderland eight years ago, found a very different club on his first return to the Stadium of Light. Back then, the club were on a downward slope. Now, things are on the up.
Régis Le Bris’s side moved up to fourth place ahead of Saturday’s home game against the Premier League leaders, Arsenal, after a 1-1 draw against Moyes’s Everton. A deflected strike from the impressive Granit Xhaka cancelled out Iliman Ndiaye’s brilliant opening goal.
Everton had dominated much of the first half, and were unfortunate not to be further ahead at the break. It was a different story in the second half, as Sunderland laid siege to the Everton goal. “We didn’t start well,” said Le Bris. “They were better than us, they were dominant.”
Asked if his main emotion was disappointment, Le Bris said: “Not really, because this league is so tough. It’s a good reminder how hard it is to win a single point. We started [the season] really well, so we might forget that we still are a promoted team. It’s a good point.”
Moyes took charge of Sunderland at short notice in the summer of 2016 for what would prove to be a long and troubled season after Sam Allardyce left to manage England. Moyes would last longer at the Stadium of Light than Allardyce would at the Football Association, but the injury-ravaged campaign did not end well. Sunderland bought badly, and the season ended badly. The team went down with just 24 points – and Moyes resigned.
Another relegation followed and, in the dark days of Sunderland’s four-year stay in League One, it would have been hard for fans to imagine the club competing in the upper echelons of the Premier League given they were struggling to compete where they were in the pyramid. Ahead of the game, Moyes said that he had a “good time” on Wearside, despite suffering the only relegation of his managerial career. Fans remember the campaign less fondly.
Le Bris named an unchanged team, while Moyes fielded Thierno Barry up front rather than Beto after his side had gone two games without a goal.
A goal was not long in coming for Everton, however, and Barry played his part. Ndiaye took the ball on the right with the help of Barry and raced towards the box. He superbly evaded three challenges before getting the ball on to his left foot and opening the scoring with a shot which stunned Robin Roefs, who has kept a lot out of Sunderland’s goal so far this season.
Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye fires in a spectacular opener after 15 minutes. Photograph: Richard Lee/Shutterstock
Jack Grealish, a threat from the left, struck a post from 20 yards during a dominant spell for Everton. Sunderland struggled to get hold of the ball for the first 30 minutes, but they rallied late in the half, and Everton scrambled the ball away after Dan Ballard headed a ball from Nordi Mukiele towards goal. Even so, the former Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, making his first appearance at the stadium since leaving the same summer as Moyes, did not face a first-half shot on target.
Sunderland, though, do not give up. The slogan of last season’s Championship playoff run was “Til the end”, and they were back level a minute after the restart. Pickford was helpless after James Tarkowski inadvertently diverted a shot from Xhaka past him after Enzo Le Fée teed up Sunderland’s captain on the edge of the box.
Pickford did well to stop a strike from Le Fée which bounced off Wilson Isidor. Everton were rocking, as was the Stadium of Light.
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Every Sunderland challenge was greeted with a roar as, time and again, the home side quickly won the ball back after losing possession. They kept on pressing for a second goal and one long throw from Mukiele caused panic.
Everton struggled to break out of their half as Le Bris’s side attacked again and again. Dwight McNeil replaced Ndiaye during a sticky spell, but the ball just would not stick up front for them.
David Moyes applauds the fans after the final whistle. Photograph: Scott Heppell/Reuters
The pressure was relentless as the hosts sensed a win, but Everton kept Sunderland out as the home support willed their team on. The visitors somehow did not come unstuck. Mukiele headed over from close range.
“I think after 30 minutes, I’d have been disappointed to be only going home with a point,” said Moyes. “After 90 minutes I was quite pleased with a point.”
He was asked after the game if Sunderland felt like a different club to the one he managed. “Absolutely,” said Moyes. “They’ve done amazingly to bring themselves back round. Maybe they’ve been away longer than they hoped to be, but it’s great to see them back. They’re doing a brilliant job.”
