Le Bris: Sunderland proved their identity in joyous Premier League return
Sunderland thrashed West Ham to mark their return to the Premier League in style after an eight-year absence.
Sunderland proved their identity in their emphatic 3-0 defeat of West Ham, so says Regis Le Bris.
The Black Cats marked their Premier League return in style on Saturday, turning in a sensational second-half showing at the Stadium of Light.
Eliezer Mayenda headed in the opener in the 61st minute, before last season's play-off hero Dan Ballard thumped in a second soon after.
Substitute Wilson Isidor scored the third in injury time, producing a composed finish after he cut into the box, following a breakaway by Chemsdine Talbi.
Le Bris was thrilled with how his team stuck to the identity they forged in the second tier last term.
He said: “It’s really important for two reasons, showed they can step up.
“We’ll see later, but today it was really important because they kept the identity of the club and the way we worked last season. We built this strength on togetherness, the way we work as a team. The players worked well as a team and they showed that again today.
“We didn’t change many important things at half-time. We spoke a bit about their goalkeeper restarts and our high press, we went for man for man, and they found two or three opportunities with long balls. So, it was really important to be strong in duels. We made just two or three little decisions, and it made a difference.”
West Ham boss Graham Potter, meanwhile, lamented a number of opportunities that went begging for his team in the first half.
“I was happy with our performance in the first half, we started things well, unlucky not to score, we quietened the crowd and felt in control,” he said.
“In the second half we started slowly, a bit stop, start. Then the goal comes from an action which we have to do better with, the cross has come from too far and there’s a free header.
“That little lift you give the home team, it was too big for us and we tried to respond and get back in the game and conceded another, a cheap one.”
West Ham (902) became the fourth team to concede 900 away goals in the Premier League, after Everton (925), Tottenham (922) and Newcastle United (912), with the Hammers doing so in the fewest number of matches (556).
Sunderland, meanwhile, snapped a run of eight league matches against West Ham without a win (D4 L4), gaining their first victory against the Hammers since January 2013 (also 3-0).
