Age does not seem to be a big deal at the Stadium of Light. Even before Chris Coleman’s team had been announced, they wished winger Rees Greenwood a happy 22nd birthday – a month late.
Yaya Toure might have slapped in a transfer request but Greenwood laughed and emojied it off on Twitter.
More importantly, the Black Cats then produced probably the most vibrant 30 minutes of football seen at the ground for a long time to claim only their second win there since 2016. As against Fulham, the only goal was scored by a debutant striker.
As with Greenwood, though, Sunderland would do well to hold off on the celebrations.
Their XI contained four recent graduates of their academy, two of someone else’s. The freedom George Honeyman, Josh Maja and 18-year-old goalscorer Joel Asoro played with, and the quality shown by midfielder Ethan Robson, owed plenty to the security provided by Lee Cattermole’s excellent performance but their understanding, energy and positivity was fantastic to see.
Asoro and Robson were making first league starts, Maja – whose goal defeated the Cottagers on his maiden Sunderland appearance – his third. You would not have known it, or perhaps you would for their fearlessness on a ground which appears to intimidate more experienced colleagues.
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Coleman was right to pour a little cold water on everything at full-time, though. Since he took charge, the Black Cats have shown themselves capable of the morale-lifting performances which by and large were beyond Simon Grayson, but have only set fans up for a painful fall. For the first ten months of 2017 they were miserably consistent, especially on their own patch, and Coleman has upgraded them to inconsistent. They need to step forward again to consistently good to avoid a second successive relegation – a very real threat for both sides on Saturday.
That Sunderland were made to graft and did was encouraging but as Hull ratcheted up the pressure they had to ride their luck. Bryan Oviedo’s header off the line from Evandro’s piledriver was brilliant, as was Robbin Ruiter’s point-blank added-time save from David Meyler but even with defenders putting pressure on him, Fraizer Campbell ought to have done what Black Cats fans – most fans – expect their former players to do, and score against them. His effort went well wide.
While all that was hugely important, it was the attacking flair that will warm supporters between now and Birmingham City a week on Tuesday.
After all the talk about players – well, Jack Rodwell – allegedly not wanting to play for Sunderland it was heartening watching youngsters demonstrated their commitment beyond doubt. In the first half Asoro fell awkwardly on his back and took a whack to the nose. He just got on with it, the physios able to stem the flow of blood in a way they could not with Jones. If only some elders were so physically resilient.
He and Maja spent the week waiting to hear if attempts to sign players to jump ahead of them in the strikers queue – if two people are enough to constitute a queue – would succeed. Should Coleman’s reported interest in Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu come to fruition, Robson may have to take a step back too. As Honeyman has this season, they ensured they left a lasting impression.
When one last push was needed it was Lynden Gooch – not Aiden McGeady or Callum McManaman – introduced and his eagerness to carry the ball deep into enemy territory stopped a siege around Ruiter’s goal. McGeady and McManaman ought not to have been the only old heads watching and learning.
There are so many benefits from bringing youngsters through the system together it makes you despair that more managers do not try harder to do it.
The lift it gave the Stadium of Light was vital. When Billy Jones was unable to find the gap to shoot through they groaned their disappointment, but were enthused at how Maja’s saved shot from Asoro’s flick-on dished the half-chance up to him.
Whether the ball was threaded along the ground from Honeyman, the busy bee in the hole, or knocked longer for Asoro to help on to Maja, the front three knew what one another was doing before each did it, countless hours at the Academy of Light and Eppleton bearing fruit.
Jones had already missed a chance when Honeyman threaded a lovely pass inside for Asoro to cross, so they cut him out of the equation the third time. After Cattermole’s thundering tackle Maja, on the touchline, reverse-passed cutely inside for Honeyman and he released Asoro with time to consider making his “childhood dream come true”. Before Allan McGregor could think about how he might do it, Asoro drilled beyond him.
It was the highlight of an exhilarating opening half-hour, but the youngsters did not stop playing at that point. Robson, who earlier thundered into a couple of crowd-pleasing crunchers on Meyler, forced an 83rd-minute save after his initial shot was blocked.
Jake Clarke-Salter – of Chelsea and England – read the game well at centre-back to sweep up a couple of threatening moments with timely interceptions. Robson’s allowed Honeyman to roll the ball almost square in front of the goalline when a striker or a gust of wind might have found the net.
Asoro could have had a penalty but Keith Stroud saw him looking for it and Michael Dawson, recently booked, trying to pull out and booked the teenager for diving. It was hard to see if Dawson stood on Asoro as he claimed and difficult to take the word of modern footballers in those situations.
But cynicism was not the order of a day when the naivety of youth beautifully shone through. For these players, the follow-up is always crucial.