I watched Sunderland's crucial win and here's why it was Régis Le Bris’s most impressive result yet

Sunderland secured a crucial win over Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night.

Phil Smith was there reporting for The Echo and here are his four key conclusions…

SUNDERLAND REIGNITE THEIR TOP-TWO HOPES

Those late goals conceded at Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City had opened up a bit of a gap between Sunderland and the top three. Ahead of the New Year’s Day fixtures Leeds United had opened up a seven-point gap on the Black Cats, with Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United five out in front.

It felt like defeat would leave Sunderland with a lot of ground to make up and possibly too much already given the calibre of those parachute-payment bolstered squads. Leeds and Burnley dropped points in the 3pm fixtures to leave the door ajar, and it was impressive for an injury-hit Sunderland side to step through it.

Realistically, squad depth and experience means that Sunderland are still very much outsiders for the top two but this result and most importantly this level of performance means fans can continue to dream a little bit longer. And the players were given another reminder that they have nothing to fear at this level.

An eight-point gap to seventh remains the most important number for Sunderland but they undoubtedly have an opportunity to go on and achieve something special. Key to that will be better luck on the injury front and a couple of very good January additions.

LE BRIS HAS HIS BEST DAY YET AS SUNDERLAND BOSS

Though it’s important to note that Sheffield United are equally stretched by injuries just now, their starting XI was still packed with proven quality and given the context of Sunderland’s long list of absentees, there’s an argument that this was Régis Le Bris’s best night in the job yet.

In particular, his two big pre-match calls paid off handsomely. The head coach opted not to dwell too much on the defeat to Stoke, noting how many chances his side had created and telling them to move on quickly. That message was repeated to Eliezer Mayenda, who had missed big chances to secure the win against both The Potters and Blackburn Rovers.

Mayenda’s confidence looked to have dipped and in his pre-match press conference, Le Bris asked if it might be time to give him a rest. Le Bris was unusually emphatic in his response, saying that Sunderland had to stick by their young players in difficult moments and sending a strong and public vote of confidence to the 19-year-old. Against opposition of this calibre it must have been tempting to go with the added experience of Aaron Connolly, but Le Bris backed Mayenda to play his way back into form.

Equally, it would have been easy to stick with his preferred 4-3-3 shape by moving Adil Aouchiche infield and leaving Mayenda out wide. Instead, Le Bris switched to a 4-4-2 and partnered Mayenda with Wilson Isidor. Sunderland saw far less of the ball than we are used to at home and were more direct than we have seen for much of the campaign, but it played to the strengths of the two strikers who are both a nightmare for defenders when they have space to attack. It won’t work every week as few teams will look to control the ball and push their defence as high as Sheffield United did at the Stadium of Light, but it was the right decision on the day. Le Bris secured three crucial points, rebuilt the confidence of his young striker and found a Plan B that he now knows he can deploy when the situation demands on another day.

This was a tight game with little between the sides and Chris Wilder noted that if Sunderland had been unfortunate to lose at Bramall Lane, on balance of play his team had been a little unlucky here. That was a fair assessment, but Sunderland did well to defend their box resolutely but still find opportunities to attack on a regular basis. It could have gone either way in the end but that shouldn’t take away from a very good Sunderland display in the circumstances.

ANTHONY PATTERSON’S CRUCIAL INTERVENTION

Though Sheffield United applied a lot of pressure through the second half, there was no doubt on balance of play that Sunderland deserved their half-time lead. They had created the better of the openings and were unfortunate to concede an own goal when Luke O’Nien headed Gustavo Hamer’s cross into his own goal.

All the same, the game could have been transformed entirely had the visitors taken the lead early on when O’Nien fouled Kieffer Moore in the box. The penalty was poor but Patterson did well to save and most importantly, to generate enough power on the block to turn it away from danger and prevent the follow up. There was a similarly important save late on when he drove a powerful effort well away from goal, and another brave intervention to collect a low cross into the box with seconds yet to play. Patterson has been a consistent performer this season in the main but here he was a key architect in the win.

SUNDERLAND’S MIDFIELD TWO CONTINUE TO THRIVE

There were some high-profile names in Sheffield United’s midfield but it was an area of the pitch where Sunderland had the better of the contest. To play with just two in midfield is a big risk in the modern game and you need your midfielders to get through a lot of running and win a lot of duels. Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham did exactly that, a reminder of why they are two of the most highly-rated midfielders outside of the Premier League.