Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris highlighted Leeds United’s tendency to start fast ahead of Monday’s Championship clash between the two promotion chasers at Elland Road.
Heading into the weekend, no team in the league had scored more goals inside the first 30 minutes of games than Leeds United with 21.
But as Sunderland went into half-time with a narrow advantage – Wilson Isidor adding another superb solo effort to his growing Black Cats collection – Daniel Farke’s title-chasers needed to show a different side of their game.
A team renowned for flying out of the blocks, this time around, hit top speed in the final straight to win by a nose.
Pascal Struijk levelled the scores in the 78th minute before the centre-back become the most unlikely of heroes in the dying seconds of stoppage time; Leeds stunned Sunderland with the most dramatic of fightbacks to climb back above Sheffield United at the summit.
Sunderland boss highlights Leeds United subs as Joe Rothwell and Pascal Struijk combine
Of course, considering the strength in depth at Farke’s disposal, a one-goal lead is never truly safe against a Leeds side who have the luxury of bringing on the likes of Struijk, Joe Rothwell, Largie Ramazani, Mateo Joseph and Sam Byram, while leaving Italy international Willy Gnonto on the bench.
Matchwinner Struijk will hog the headlines but Rothwell also made a huge difference following own his 71st minute introduction, the Bournemouth loanee driving his team forward with those surging runs from deep.
It was Rothwell’s sublime cross which made Struijk’s close-range header – taking Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson out of the equation – harder to miss.
“It’s a shame to concede the second goal like we did at the end of the game,” Le Bris sighs, the Sunderland coach seeing points slip away yet again from a winning position. “We played a good first half and deserved to win 1-0 at half-time.
“But, in the second-half, they built strong momentum and it was really difficult to break their dynamic. Their subs were excellent as well and they were very good at the end of the game.”
Regis Le Bris devastated by stunning Leeds victory
On a night in which Daniel Farke’s outstanding game-management came to the fore – Struijk and Rothwell replaced Ilia Gruev and Ao Tanaka in an inspired double-change – Le Bris’ own decisions will come under considerable scrutiny.
Sunderland lost their most effective outlet when Isidor was removed late on, leaving the visitors penned in and hanging on.
“We didn’t find the solution to slow down the game and, with the crowd, they had massive energy behind them,” adds the softly-spoken Frenchman. “They deserved to win the second-half. It’s very difficult for the players, for us and our fans but they were strong in the second-half.”
“We can be proud of our performance because Leeds are really dominant in the league. Probably for 60 minutes in this game, we were very close to their level so it’s a case of consistency.
“We have to find solutions when we are in this situation where we have to slow a team down and find some details that can be helpful. It wasn’t the case this evening but we have to keep going. We have good qualities and we’re learning from our different experiences.”
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