Sunderland made light work of Oxford United in their Championship clash on Saturday, winning the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor.
Sunderland looked a level above Oxford United at the Stadium of Light as Regis Le Bris’ side cruised to a nine-point week.
A fine header from Jobe Bellingham opened the scoring, and an impressive Wilson Isidor volley in the second half capped a routine win for the Black Cats.
They remain in 1st place of the Championship table and now boast a five-point lead over Burnley in 2nd, who drew against QPR.
Here’s five things I love about Sunderland’s win over Oxford United…
Jobe Bellingham’s leaping header
There’s no end of positive things to say about Bellingham’s development at Sunderland, bagging his second Championship goal of the season and putting in another strong performance.
And with his superbly-taken headed goal, he showed the aerial side of his game that we don’t get to see as often as other parts of his game.
He rose well in between the two centre-backs, placing his header into the bottom corner as though he was an experienced striker.
Patrick Roberts responds to midweek drop
For Sunderland’s 2-1 win at Luton Town in midweek, Le Bris made the surprise call to drop Patrick Roberts from the starting XI.
Then before the game against Oxford, Le Bris said he was unsure if Roberts would return to the Sunderland XI.
But he did, and Roberts showed in the first half especially why he’s such an important player in this team.
He was beating players for fun and getting the ball forward at every opportunity. He still needs to find that killer pass or shot more often, though.
Sunderland have no end of attacking threats
There is just so much to love about this Sunderland side as a whole. And in the game against Oxford United we saw so many players stepping up in attack.
Although there could’ve, and probably should’ve been more goals on the day, we saw a lot from Roberts and Bellingham, Isidor and Chris Rigg showed some good touches, and Trai Hume even showed his class going forward with some quality crosses.
Romaine Mundle wasn’t as active as he’s ever been but he remains a huge threat as well. XX goals in the Championship this season proves that Sunderland are a huge attacking threat right now.
Three assists in three for Dan Neil
Earlier in the season, Sunderland fans were blasting Dan Neil for his performances in the Championship.
But Le Bris showed faith in the team captain. Neil then kept his head down and he’s quickly got back to his best.
In the last few games he’s played some really nice passes, keeping things ticking over very nicely as those in front of him score the goals.
He provided a quality assist for Isidor’s likewise goal against Oxford, with Neil now having an assist in his last three games for the Black Cats.
No qualms about Simon Moore starting for Sunderland
Adding to the point about attacking threats; Sunderland also have depth and quality at the back, with Simon Moore stepping in for the injured Anthony Patterson.
Moore made his Championship debut for Sunderland against Oxford United. Usually when a goalkeeper of Patterson’s class is unavailable, it’s a worry.
But Moore showed his class in the Carabao Cup defeat against Preston North End earlier in the season, and Sunderland fans online had absolutely no worries about Moore stepping in against Oxford.
He didn’t have a lot to do in the game, but he’s a worthy replacement for Patterson.
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