Phil Smith: I watched Sunderland's incredible comeback and these were my key conclusions

Sunderland produced one of their best wins of the campaign yet on Saturday as they battled back from 2-0 down to beat Bournemouth at the Stadium of Light.

Phil Smith was there reporting for The Echo and these were his key conclusions...

Sunderland show their resilience and character yet again

Sunderland hadn't done too much wrong in the early stages of this game, but were punished severely for a couple of errors. Many teams would have been knocked off course and gone under, but this team has an impressive resilience. This win continued their run of earning valuable points from losing positions, and it also continued their run of responding to every Premier League defeat with a win in the next game. That more than anything else tells you why so far they have been able to stay consistently well clear the danger zone, and speaks volumes of the environment that Régis Le Bris has built at the Academy of Light. Always consistent and balanced in his messages and his emotions, Le Bris has built a team able to deal with poor results and setbacks within games.

This win was deserved, too. Bournemouth are an excellent side who particularly through Antoine Semenyo looked a threat throughout, but Sunderland played some good football through the course of the game. Le Bris said afterwards that he felt Sunderland's strong start, which was very much not reflected on the scoreboard, gave his players the belief that there was something in the game for them.

It's a team that doesn't know when it is beaten, on home turf in particular, and they will take real belief from the way they were able to go toe-to-toe with a strong and established opponent.

The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our SAFC WhatsApp channel.

A brave selection from Le Bris pays off - and gives him a major boost moving forward

'I always had the belief he could do this,' Le Bris said of Enzo Le Fée's barnstorming performance in central midfield afterwards. But as the head coach admitted, so far the supremely-gifted midfielder just hadn't quite been able to produce his best in his favoured position. Here was everywhere throughout, influential both in and out of possession - earning high praise from the Match of the Day pundits watching on.

Sunderland have been excellent so far this season but the one obvious criticism has been that they don't always create good goalscoring opportunities, which could lead to a dip in form eventually if it continues. If Le Fée can reproduce this kind of performance, it's a bit of a game changer for Sunderland because his quality and ability to find space can help bring the striker and the wingers into the game more from open play.

There's every chance revert to a back five for the next two games and Le Fée returns to the flanks, but over the course of the season this was a performance that will delight Le Bris as he seeks to add the attacking layers to a very strong defensive foundation.

It’s also gone a little under the radar how Le Fée has addressed a major achilles heel from last season. At one stage, it genuinely felt like Sunderland weren’t going to score when they won a penalty but that is starting to change. This was another excellent strike, the goalkeeper had clearly done his homework and noted his preference for going bottom left, but Le Fée switched it up smartly and demonstrated both his composure and technique.

Brian Brobbey's case might be too strong to ignore

Another big goal for Brian Brobbey at the Stadium of Light, and a header of real quality given that he was leaning back under intense pressure from a Bournemouth defender.

Strikers are not easy to recruit and Brobbey is beginning to look like a strong bit of business from Sunderland, and not just because of his goals. His hold-up play and ability to stretch the game is consistently helping Sunderland in the second half of games and now that he has clearly built his sharpness and match fitness, his case for inclusion in the starting XI is becoming very difficult to ignore.

Le Bris kept his cards close to his chest after the game but having made clear his intention to rotate more regularly in this busy phase of the season, Brobbey's first start is clearly closer than ever.

How that stunning goal from Tyler Adams was actually planned... sort of

While most of Andoni Iraola's post-match press conference was perhaps unsurprisingly dominated by discussion of the refereeing performance, he also made an interesting point when asked about that outrageously good goal from Tyler Adams.

You can't plan for a goal of that instinct and ingenuity, but Bournemouth had identified Sunderland's set plays as a potential opportunity for their own attacking players.

"It's a very good decision, very good execution," Iraola said.

"Sunderland commit a lot of players in the first place also. We knew that if you defend properly your box, you can have a chance in the break. Because they gamble a lot, in the sense they put seven players inside the box most of the time. If you do it properly, there is a chance that you can counter. But after, you have to finish it the way he has done, yes."

For Sunderland, the risk is very clearly worth the reward. Set pieces are a key part of their attacking armoury, and led to two of their three goals on the day. Le Bris will be comfortable that being so aggressive in these situations brings with it a little bit of risk so long as his team continue to threaten so consistently, but it's interesting that opposition teams are beginning to see if they can turn danger into opportunity.

Your next Sunderland read: Phil Smith's Sunderland player ratings vs Bournemouth as 'wonderful' midfielder lands nine