Adil Aouchiche and Luis Hemir react as forgotten Sunderland loanee scores late winner for new club

Sunderland loanee Timothee Pembele was the hero of the hour as he scored a late winner for new club Le Havre on Sunday evening.

The full-back has endured a mixed time in Ligue 1 this term, making just 10 starts - and a further four substitute appearances - since leaving Wearside on a temporary agreement during the latter stages of the summer transfer window.

But his fortunes have seemingly taken a turn for the better in recent weeks. First, Pembele played a full 90 minutes in a 4-2 defeat against Lyon just prior to the international break, and while the result left a lot to be desired, the 22-year-old evidently impressed enough to retain his starting role against FC Nantes at the weekend.

The Sunderland man would go on to play a decisive part in that contest too, striking in the 88th minute to seal a dramatic 3-2 victory at the Stade Oceane. His performance also drew praise from fellow Black Cats loanee Adil Aouchiche - currently at Portsmouth - who reacted to an Instagram post from Pembele with the message: “You like the surface too much”, a reference to the hybrid artificial surface at Le Havre’s home ground.

Aouchiche was not the only Sunderland loanee to comment either, with Luis Hemir - currently at Juventus Next Gen in Italy - writing: “Indehhhh” - an apparent in-joke between himself and Pembele, who responded in kind.

What has Timothee Pembele said about his move from Sunderland to Le Havre?

Speaking late last year, Pembele admitted that he had been eager to leave Sunderland at the time of his exit from the Stadium of Light. He said: “I really didn’t think that HAC would come looking for me! I was in second division in England, I wasn’t playing, and I thought I’d go back to Ligue 2. I have confidence in myself, I know I have the ability to play in Ligue 1, but in today’s football, when a player doesn’t play, he’s quickly forgotten.

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“When my agent told me that Le Havre were interested in me, I said straight out, ‘Let’s go!’ I didn’t look to see where I stood in the pecking order, I just said to myself, ‘I’m going, I’m fighting, and we’ll see what happens!’

“In the end, it took a bit of time. I signed in the last few days of the window, and the coach gave me a warm welcome, telling me that I needed to get my rhythm back. So, I played one match with the reserves. In England, I played quite a few games with the reserves, and I was fed up with playing with younger players. But the coach explained to me that I had to play 90 minutes to get into a rhythm. After that, it was one thing after another.”

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