#sunderland

#sunderland

It was a good game against a really strong opponent, one of the best in Europe. [It was] important to defend properly. We showed we can defend high, when they came a bit higher with their quality, we had to manage the ball in the final third. They created many chances, but the character was good. Even when we were on the edge, we had one foot, one head, something to protect the ball.

"When I joined Sunderland as an apprentice, he was still fighting to recover from the knee injury that would shortly end his career. "He then became my youth coach and all of us had specific jobs to do. I cleaned the first-team dressing room once the senior players had gone home. "One day, the rest of the lads set me up, saying the dressing room was empty, so I walked in, only to be confronted by Brian, some other coaches and a few players."

No longer content with merely surviving, the Black Cats are reportedly preparing to battle some of the Premier League's biggest heavyweights for the next generation of midfield stars. According to a fresh report from TEAMtalk, Sunderland have identified Monaco's Lamine Camara and Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi as primary targets. The club's current trajectory has allowed the recruitment team to look well beyond a relegation scrap and toward a future as a persistent Premier League force.

Sunderland are reportedly looking to build on their sensational return to the Premier League by securing one of the most productive attackers in Portugal. With the Black Cats currently sitting in the top six, manager Regis Le Bris is keen to add more firepower to his squad during the January window, with Brazilian star Andre Luiz emerging as a top target.

Brighton's winless streak in the Premier League stretched to four matches following a 0-0 draw with Sunderland. Saturday's contest at the Amex Stadium was distinctly lacking in attacking quality, as the spoils were shared in the first Premier League meeting between these teams. Sunderland, without a glut of key players due to the Africa Cup of Nations, turned in a resolute display, and may have won it if not for some fine goalkeeping from Bart Verbruggen.

Before the 2017-18 season, clubs agreed to ensure that at least one block of seating for visiting supporters would be pitchside in an attempt to improve atmospheres. At the time, former Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore said: "When an away goal is scored, you want that atmosphere and interaction between the two sets of fans." However, Newcastle were given special dispensation to be excluded from the rule when they were promoted back to the top-flight in 2017.

Florian Wirtz's dancing feet helped to rescue a point for Liverpool, but he was denied a first Premier League goal after his deflected strike went down as a Nordi Mukiele own goal. The Germany international waltzed past a couple of defenders before firing home via a deflection nine minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw with Sunderland and spare head coach Arne Slot more scrutiny after he left out Mohamed Salah for successive league matches for the first time in his Liverpool career.