After back-to-back defeats in the Championship, Sunderland and Regis Le Bris now have back-to-back wins on the board.
The mood was low amongst Sunderland supporters after a 1-0 defeat at home to Hull City in February. It marked the first time Sunderland had suffered back-to-back defeats under Regis Le Bris, and their first home league defeat of the season too.
But the Black Cats bounced back win a win at Sheffield Wednesday an then followed that up with a 2-1 win over Cardiff City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, courtesy of goals from Eliezer Mayenda and Chris Mepham.
Mayenda now has three goals in his last two games and seven in the Championship all season, as the young Spaniard continues to shine and stake his claim for a continued starting spot in Le Bris’ XI.
After the win over Cardiff, Sunderland remain in 4th place of the Championship table and still six points behind Burnley in 3rd who thumped Luton Town 4-0 on Saturday.
Gary Bennett full of praise for Eliezer Mayenda after Sunderland 2-1 Cardiff City
Speaking on Total Sport after the game, Mayenda was understandably a talking point. He put in another whirlwind performance, getting himself another goal, and keeping top scorer Wilson Isidor on the bench for yet another game.
Gary Bennett even went as far as saying Mayenda was Sunderland’s best player in the game against Cardiff. A former Sunderland striker himself, Bennett explained: “I thought he was our best player today, Mayenda. His movement, his work-rate, and his goal. Great pass by Patrick Roberts, he [Mayenda] still had a lot to do, but he pulled it to one side, kept calm and slotted it past the goalkeeper.
Bennett then hailed Mayenda’s hold up play against Cardiff, which isn’t something the striker is known for. Bennett said: “His hold up play was very good today, and he was always a threat. Especially in a 1v1 situation. He’s got the pace to get away from centre-backs.”
- READ MORE: Jobe Bellingham names the two Sunderland players who’ve impressed him the most since he joined
Eliezer Mayenda’s stats for Sunderland vs Cardiff City
Mayenda didn’t see a whole lot of the ball against Cardiff. But when he did get on the ball, the 19-year-old certainly made it count: of nine completed passes, three of them were key passes.
Mayenda also needed just two shots to score, with one on target and one off target during the game. His stats against Cardiff are below:
| Statistic | Mayenda vs Cardiff City |
| Touches | 29 |
| Accurate passes | 9 |
| Pass accuracy | 82% |
| Key passes | 3 |
| Duels | 7/15 |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Expected goals | 0.33 |
Yet again, Le Bris has a selection headache ahead of another winnable home fixture coming up against Preston North End on Tuesday night.
A third-straight win on Tuesday would keep the heat on the league’s top three and keep the distance between Sunderland and now West Brom in 6th, who are 13 points behind the Black Cats.