Sunderland kept up their winning ways with yet another comeback against Norwich City, and the Canaries manager has admitted the Black Cats got the better of him in one way.
The win keeps Sunderland in the hunt for automatic promotion as we head into the busy festive period, and Regis Le Bris’ side have once again shown their resilience in fighting back from behind.
While Norwich had the better of the first half and took the lead, Sunderland came out with intensity after the interval to maintain their unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light.
Goals from Dan Ballard and Jobe Bellingham saved the day for the Black Cats and left Norwich boss, Johannes Hoff Thorup, to lament another disappointing defeat.
Early second half goal changed the game for Sunderland
Speaking to the Norwich official website, Thorup discussed the way his team handled Sunderland’s threats, and admitted the goal from Ballard just after half time completely changed the match and ruined his game plan.
Thorup said: “I think the first half was okay. Some moments in the first half, we had the control that we would want. But we have to respect that they come out with a lot of energy that we have to deal with.
“I don’t think we dealt with that well enough. Especially with our passing game, which was not good enough. First half, overall, was okay. A few chances at both ends, but second half was decided by a lot of incidents which gave us a lot to do.
“We spoke about it half-time about how to deal with their energy, but then they go and score with the first possible chance they have.”
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Norwich win will give Sunderland even more belief moving forward
Against Swansea last weekend, Sunderland achieved something they hadn’t in 26 years; they came from two goals down to get a win.
With the win over Norwich also coming from a losing position, Sunderland now have to be considered title contenders, as they are showing such incredible resilience to fight back in games now.
It’s something they didn’t have before, but doing so against Norwich now, too, will only feed that never-say-die attitude as the season goes on, and makes the Black Cats a very dangerous proposition for other teams in the Championship.
Teams will see these results and performances, and know that they cannot rest on their laurels against Sunderland at all, and the confidence that will give Le Bris team could be invaluable.