Sunderland beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1 on Wednesday evening.

Former Sunderland icon Marco Gabbiadini has admitted that Enzo Le Fée is his “favourite player at the club” following his match-winning turn against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League in midweek.

The talismanic Frenchman earned and converted a second-half penalty to hand the Black Cats all three points in their first continental fixture in more than half a century on Wednesday evening, producing yet another influential display in the centre of the park to compliment his decisive strike.

And speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily, Gabbiadini wasted little time in emphasising his admiration for Le Fée. He said: "His first touch and his vision is exceptional. He is my favourite player at the club. He has the balance and the poise he needs to play in his position effectively. I do, however, think we need to get him on the ball more often."

Elsewhere, the pundit also reflected on the memorable atmosphere generated at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday evening. He said: "It was very special. My old chairman Bob Murray, who is a good friend of mine, built this stadium for nights like this - and the fans didn't let him down. It is the fans who deserve a lot of plaudits because when we were down in the third tier of English football, and we didn't really know where we were going for a couple of years while we were down there, they stuck with the club.

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"There was regularly 30,000 to 35,000 people at the Stadium of Light for those third-tier matches, so a historic win is everything their loyalty deserved. I may have left some fingernail marks in the desk as it was a bit tense but, on the whole, I do think Sunderland created the most chances and looked the most dangerous around the box."

Sunderland’s Europa League campaign will continue with an away clash Portuguese outfit Torreense on October 15th, before they embark on a trip to face Lech Poznan seven days later. Their next home game in the competition comes against Dinamo Zagreb on November 5th.

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