Phil Smith's verdict: Inside Sunderland's best performance yet as they add another impressive string to their bow

Sunderland have now won ten games from 13 across all competitions this season and within that shown different ways of getting the job done.

They were undoubted promotion contenders before this 5-0 thumping, and they remain so afterwards.

Yet it was undeniable that as Leon Dajaku lined up a loose ball in the box, curling a stunning first-time finish into the top corner for the fifth goal, you could sense early-season optimism going through another gear.

On Saturday Sunderland had secured a fine win against a good Bolton Wanderers side but Lee Johnson had been left frustrated with an inability to really kill the game off.

Dajaku had been one of the players to miss a decent opening, opting not to shoot from the kind of position where Johnson had said he is absolutely ruthless in training.

Keep creating these openings, Johnson said, and we will beat someone heavily.

That they did, Dajaku showing that killer instinct to round off a display of total dominance.

By now the Stadium of Light was rocking.

It had been a long 18 months since fans had last watched midweek football under the lights here, Max Power salvaging a point with a last-gasp equaliser against Fleetwood Town.

That offered respite, but generally Sunderland's promotion prospects were faltering.

Now all four corners of the ground were on their feet again, toasting a genuine belief that Sunderland's long-term prospects are finally looking good.

Lee Johnson was serenaded, the fact that he selected a new club from his bag and deployed at exactly the right moment lost on no one.

Cheltenham Town, it must be said, proved to be a generous opponent.

Their performance was put into context when Michael Duff reflected on what had gone wrong in the aftermath.

They have had a punishing schedule of late, gruelling away trips to Preston North End and Wigan Athletic preceding this trip to the North East.

A relatively small squad operating on a shoestring budget, they have been hit by some key injuries.

Influential striker Kyle Vassell was missing, and more importantly so was defender Will Boyle (the third best defender in the league this season, according to whoscored.com).

Their back three had an average age of 22 and most importantly, very limited League One experience.

That showed, particularly as the crowd rose and Sunderland's momentum began to surge.

The home supporters, though, will rightly tell you that they have often seen limited opposition come to the Stadium of Light and take something with them.

Cheltenham had their issues, but the Black Cats had a specifically tailored gameplan to capitalise.

Last week, reflecting on the comfortable win over Wigan Athletic in the cup and a confident performance from Nathan Broadhead, Johnson insisted that he would give the Everton loanee a chance to flourish alongside Ross Stewart when the time was right.

In the league he has played exclusively with a number ten this season, but sensing a vulnerability in the visiting defence he introduced Broadhead and Aiden O'Brien.

It raised eyebrows an hour before kick off, but within minutes the game plan made total sense.

Time and time again that running power pushed the opposition back, who found it impossible to contain the mobility and intelligence of Sunderland's front two.

Though Broadhead somehow did not get on the scoresheet himself, he played a central part in four of the five goals.

It was a statement performance, dampened only by a hamstring injury sustained late in the second half.

Duff was keen to point out that as excellent as Sunderland were, his side had routinely made basic defensive mistakes.

It was telling, though, that he conceded in the end to be happy enough to get away with only conceding five.

Stewart and Broadhead were excellent, constantly providing an outlet that the likes of Aiden McGeady and Carl Winchester were able to exploit.

The latter showed his quality once again, regularly playing precise passes into the channel. Given how often he was playing high-risk balls into space, a pass accuracy of 94% was some return.

Those forward changes produced emphatic results, and it was also notable that in defence two enforced changes also did little to disrupt Sunderland's cohesion.

Niall Huggins offers a different threat to the excellent Dennis Cirkin, and showed his excellent dribbling abilities as he burst inside from the left. That willingness to cut inside regularly opened up Cheltenham, and it was something Johnson felt Sunderland didn't actually use enough. Particularly in the latter stages, he felt Dajaku was making a number of excellent runs into space that the left flank could have used more.

Equally impressive alongside the impressive Welshman was Bailey Wright.

Callum Doyle has been an influential figure this season, crucial in setting off Sunderland's attacks. Suffering from a minor back complaint, it was tempting to wonder if Johnson might turn to Frederik Alves for that ball-playing ability.

He opted instead for the Australian, who carried out the role well.

No one played more passes than Wright's 98, and the tempo with which he did helped the hosts put Cheltenham under significant pressure.

This was another night when Sunderland showed both their tactical versatility and also the depth within their squad.

There will, without doubt, be tougher and more in-form opposition lying in wait for the Black Cats this season.

But this was the best performance of Johnson's tenure to date, and the high watermark of an exhilarating early-season period.

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