True ‘grit’ and fans are secret to Cats' success

HEAD coach Régis Le Bris hailed Sunderland's resilience and collective spirit after the Lads battled to a dramatic 2-1 win over Brentford at the Stadium of Light.

- By CLIVE YOULTON

In a high-octane contest, Keith Andrews’ side were denied a first-half breakthrough when Igor Thiago's strike was ruled out for offside.

Robin Roefs then produced a big moment, saving Kevin Schade's penalty, before being beaten on 77 minutes when Thiago's header clipped the underside of the bar and crossed the line.

The Cats responded swiftly, drawing level just five minutes later as Enzo Le Fée calmly converted from the spot after Habib Diarra was held inside the box.

With the game finely poised at 1-1, Wilson Isidor sent the Stadium of Light into raptures, heading home Granit Xhaka's cross to seal a dramatic turnaround.

Speaking post-match, Le Bris hailed his players’ grit, determination and quality as they secured back-to-back home wins - and six points from their opening three Premier League fixtures, albeit coming against West Ham and Brentford.

“I am happy and we went until the end,” he told safc.com.

“We tried to win this game and it was really positive, the way we managed the game with two different halves. We controlled the first half without scoring or creating too many chances.