Sunderland's heartfelt gesture to Sheffield United before Anthony Patterson's mind games - moments missed

Sunderland and Sheffield United faced off in the Championship on New Year’s Day at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland started the new year with a vital win over promotion rivals Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light.

Strikes from Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor either side of Luke O’Nien’s own goal proved the difference, after Anthony Patterson had saved a penalty from Kieffer Moore.

Here, we take a look at the most interesting moments that you may have missed before during and after Sunderland’s match against Sheffield United:

Sunderland’s lovely gesture to Sheffield United

As has become tradition, Sunderland paid their respects to the memory of the Black Cats players and fans who sadly passed away in 2024.

Sunderland lost 10 former players and staff members last year, including Charlie Hurley, George Herd, Alan Spence, Bryan Saunders, Derek Forster, Dickie Rooks, Leighton James, Paul Satterthwaite, Steve Hardwick and Viv Busby.

In Sunderland’s pre-match programme, the club, in association with the Heaven Branch, listed the aforementioned names alongside many Sunderland fans who are unfortunately no longer with us, In a brilliant and heartfelt move, the names of the former Sheffield United players and staff who had also passed away were listed.

The names included Barry Wagstaff, David Capper, David Powell, George Baldock, Gerry Summers, Graham Moore, Ian Hamilton, John Docherty, Roy Clayton, Terry Westwood, the aforementioned Viv Busby, and Willie Carlin. The names were also read out before the game during a minute’s applause at the Stadium of Light before Sunderland vs Sheffield United, with both sets of fans observing the occasion perfectly.

Régis Le Bris makes changes to Sunderland team to play Sheffield United

Régis Le Bris restored Patrick Roberts to his starting XI for the visit of Sheffield United to the Stadium of Light. The winger was rested at Stoke City on Sunday, a second-half substitute as the Black Cats fell to a 1-0 defeat. Roberts returned to the side in place of Serbian midfielder Milan Aleksic, who made his first competitive start in that game. However, Aleksic was on the bench against the Blades.

Le Bris also opted to freshen up his back four, with Aji Alese rotated into the starting XI. Dennis Cirkin was dropped to the bench. Perhaps the most interesting team selection nugget was the French head coach’s decision to persist with Eliezer Mayenda after the attacker’s high-profile misses against Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City in recent weeks.

Anthony Patterson’s theatrics impact Kieffer Moore

Luke O’Nien gave away a penalty in the first half for a clear pull in the box with the scores level. However, Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson was able to bail his teammate out of the soup.

Patterson came up against former Sunderland transfer target Kieffer Moore, with the goalkeeper doing his best to put the Wales international off his stride before taking the kick. Patterson stood to one side of the goal before the kick was taken, presenting the whole of one side of the net to the striker.

The mind games paid off, and Patterson was able to save Moore’s penalty with his feet, which turned out to be a hugely important moment during the game.