Sky Sports drop amusing Sunderland gaffe during Derby County game as referee howler confuses supporters

Sunderland survived a tense second half at Pride Park to edge past Derby County but came away with three points on the road following Friday evening’s draw against Burnley.

Eliezer Mayenda’s first-half goal proved the difference between the two sides as the visitors missed a glut of second-half chances. Sunderland should have doubled their lead, however, when a Wilson Isidor strike was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

Here, we take a look at the interesting moments you may have missed before, during and after Sunderland’s clash against Derby County:

Confusion amongst fans during the game

Isidor raced through in the second half alongside Enzo Le Fee to double Sunderland’s lead... or so we all thought. The ball hit the net, and the Frenchman and his teammates celebrated, referee Sam Allison didn’t blow up and his assistant didn’t flag for offside.

It was a bizarre incident, one that left supporters watching the game from home confused, with several believing the score to be 2-0 before it was “corrected” back to 1-0. It was truly a strange sideshow to the game. After the clash, the officials seemed to indicate to Isidor and Chris Mepham that the goal had been ruled out for offside despite the linesman not raising his flag. It also took the EFL’s officials over a minute to conclude. Strange but thankfully it didn’t matter in the end as Sunderland hung on to win.

Sky Sports drop amusing Sunderland gaffe that fans notice

In another strange sideshow to proceedings, the Sky Sports commentary team repeatedly referred to Sunderland right-back Trai Hume as Denver Hume.

Denver Hume left Sunderland back in 2022 and now plays for Grimsby Town, where he has made 26 in League Two for the club so far this season. Indeed, the left-back was definitely not playing for Sunderland last night against Derby County and supporters were quick to pick up on the error during the game on social media. It all added to a rather unusual evening, to be honest, but here we are!

Régis Le Bris handed injury boost before Derby County game

Régis Le Bris made one change to the side that drew 0-0 at Turf Moor on Friday night, with Mayenda replacing Patrick Roberts. The move saw Mayenda reignite his striking partnership with Wilson Isidor, with Chris Rigg moving out to the right flank and Enzo Le Fee on the left.

Roberts was named on the bench, continuing Sunderland's trend this season of very carefully managing his minutes in three-game weeks. Roberts has often been rested for midweek games in order to prevent a repeat of past hamstring issues. Le Bris, however, was boosted by Chris Mepham starting the game.

Mepham was substituted in the latter stages of the 0-0 draw with Burnley after feeling pain in his hamstring, but subsequent assessments have shown no damage. The boost was cemented further when the Welsh international was named on the teamsheet to face Derby County. Extremely good news given the Bournemouth loanee’s impact this season.