Sunderland run riot on Premier League return against toothless West ham

Times

2 days ago

Returns to the Premier League do not come much better than this. Those eight years away for Sunderland, half of which were spent in League One, felt almost forgotten in the sunshine of the Stadium of Light.
Red-and-white and the blue of a new away kit bounced in unity at full-time. No one had left the ground. If there had been any prayers about the perfect day, then they were answered. It feels like this club is a million miles from the one whose last game at this level, on this ground, was a 2-0 defeat to Swansea in 2017.
They are getting used to celebration, and headed goals at the Roker End of the stadium. It was from there that this footballing comeback really started, with the most dramatic of stoppage-time goals in the semi-final of the Championship play-off against Coventry from Dan Ballard in May. The stadium shook in celebration then, and he scored again, with his head, like last time (almost) to make it 2-0, with 17 minutes remaining. The ball dropped in the same part of the Roker End goal. The celebrations were not quite as wild, but there was still disbelief amongst the joy. Sunderland had scored their first goal back in the Premier League 12 minutes earlier, just past the hour mark. That was from another header, into the same part of the same goal. It will become sacred ground.
The deep cross from the left was provided by the debutant defender Omar Alderete, who had played eight minutes of football in England at that point. It was met by Eliezer Mayenda, who out jumped Nayef Aguerd and sent a downward header back across the West Ham penalty area. Mads Hermansen in the West Ham goal seemed to follow the flight of the ball and then threw out a despairing right hand as the realisation came it was heading into the far corner.
His disbelief was matched in the stands of this ground, but then came the celebration. Day one, goal one, and Sunderland were, as their supporters sing, on their way.
Ballard would add that second with a much cleaner header than his stoppage-time goal against Coventry. He was excellent once more. There was more to come, when the Sunderland substitute Wilson Isidor broke down the West Ham right, in the first minute of stoppage time. It looked as if he was afforded the freedom of Wearside, before checking inside onto his right foot and shooting. Hermansen flicked out a lazy left hand and the ball went under his body.
It needed a double take that Hermansen cost £20million from Leicester this summer. He put his head in his hands after the goal, which he at least did not drop.
Nobody in red and white cared. They played Bob Marley's Three Little Birds at full-time. Every little thing was all right. Seven new players had started for Sunderland. After a summer spending spree that has cost £120million, all three goals came from players who had helped Sunderland out of the Championship.
Somewhere amidst the joy will come an analysis of just how bad and how toothless West Ham were, and where exactly they are heading under Graham Potter. They got worse as it went on — Ballard cleared an effort off the line from El Hadji Malick Diouf in the first half — and by the time Sunderland's third went in, their 3000 supporters had seen enough and were heading south.