Sunderland Secures First Victory of the Season Against Fulham

Álvaro Arbeloa stood still at the final whistle, locked in thought. On the opposite technical area, Régis Le Bris simply exhaled. Relief, pure and uncomplicated. A match gripped more by the fear of losing than the desire to win had finally been cracked open by two of his substitutes, Habib Diarra and Wilson Isidor, combining for the only goal.

That single strike did plenty of heavy lifting. It gave Sunderland their first victory of the season, left Arbeloa’s Fulham still without a point, and snapped a 17-year wait for a Premier League win over these opponents. One finish, a lot of history swept away.

Sadiki sets the tone

For 45 minutes, the game crept along on the edge of caution. Sunderland had the ball, but not the bite. Fulham stayed compact, wary rather than ambitious. In the middle of it all, Noah Sadiki quietly took charge.

The Sunderland midfielder dictated the tempo and snuffed out danger with ruthless efficiency. Time and again, he stepped in to shut down Fulham’s counterattacking sparks before they could catch light. His control was so complete that the visitors fashioned only one genuine chance before the break.

That opening fell to Josh King, slipped in by a clever Alex Iwobi pass down the right. The angle was tight, the opportunity fleeting. King tried to squeeze his shot inside the near post and instead found himself beaten by the geometry, slicing wide. Apart from that, Robin Roefs might as well have brought a deckchair.

Sunderland’s problem lay at the other end. They monopolised possession but rarely stretched Bernd Leno. Crosses drifted harmlessly, passing moves slowed at the edge of the box, and the home crowd’s early optimism dulled into a low murmur. The pattern only underlined why Le Bris has been pushing for a specialist right‑winger and another centre-forward before the transfer window shuts. Watching from the stands, owner Kyril-Louis Dreyfus did not need the point spelling out.

Mukiele’s statement, Fulham’s warning

If there was a bright spot for Sunderland beyond Sadiki, it came in the form of Nordi Mukiele. Back from injury and restored to central defence, he quickly reminded Wearside why his presence matters.

Early in the second half, Fulham finally sliced Sunderland open. Sander Berge split the back line with a superb through ball, Gonzalo García raced clear and the away end rose in anticipation. Mukiele, though, had read it early. He thundered across and launched into a perfectly timed sliding challenge, taking ball, not man, and almost certainly denying a goal.

García, who had scored in both of his first two competitive games since arriving from Real Madrid, suddenly found this back four a far tougher puzzle. His movement remained sharp, but the spaces were smaller, the decisions more crowded.

Even so, the sense grew that Fulham were edging into the ascendancy. Arbeloa’s side began to press higher, to keep the ball longer. Le Bris did not wait for the tide to turn completely. He cut into his frontline and rolled the dice.

Off went Nilson Angulo and Brian Brobbey, both subdued. On came Diarra and Isidor.

Isidor’s miss, then redemption

The impact was almost immediate. Sunderland, previously blunt, suddenly had running power and aggression between the lines. Enzo Le Fée spotted it first.

Drifting into space, he whipped a gorgeous first-time ball across the face of goal. It begged to be finished. Isidor burst onto it, a stride ahead of his marker, the net yawning. Somehow he clipped his shot against the base of the post.

Le Bris dropped to his knees, hands on his head. Isidor stared at the turf, disbelieving. It looked, briefly, like the kind of miss that haunts a player for weeks.

The forward did not have to wait that long to put it right.

Moments later, Sunderland went for Fulham’s high line again. Diarra, alive to the gap, surged into space and drilled a low ball across the area. Isidor adjusted his feet, met it cleanly and lashed a rising, venomous finish beyond Leno. No second invitation. No mercy.

Stadium noise flipped in an instant, from anxiety to release. The substitutes had transformed the game and punished Fulham’s risk.

Job done, just in time

Diarra’s night ended abruptly, a knock forcing him off and bringing Chris Rigg into the fray. By then, his work was already stamped on the match. His brief cameo, like Isidor’s, had altered the rhythm, the tempo, the outcome.

Fulham pushed late on but never truly broke Sunderland’s defensive structure. Mukiele continued to marshal the back line, Sadiki kept sweeping up in front, and Roefs remained largely untroubled.

Le Bris walked down the tunnel knowing his bench had bailed out a misfiring attack and bought him time in the transfer market. Arbeloa, still pointless, left with a different question: how long can Fulham afford to keep learning these lessons the hard way?