Sunderland certainly have a growing French connection with French owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, manager Regis Le Bris, and top scorer Wilson Isidor. After a few weeks without a goal, the Zenit loan man is back in form.
The gap between the Black Cats in 4th place of the Championship table and Leeds United in 1st now stands at just three points, after Sunderland beat Portsmouth 1-0 in their last outing, marking back-to-back wins for Regis Le Bris’ men.
It’s been a solid few weeks for Sunderland who’ve made a habit of coming from behind in games and going on to win. They’re also showing that they can grind out results in difficult games, beating Sheffield United 1-0 in a real promotion battle, then overcoming a struggling Portsmouth side in a completely different challenge.
One man who’s inspired the resurgence in form late is Wilson Isidor. The Frenchman has three goals in his last four and eight for the season, making him the Black Cats’ highest scorer in the Championship right now.
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French media hail Sunderland and Wilson Isidor after Portsmouth winner
It was Isidor who scored the winning goal in Sunderland’s narrow win over Pompey last time out. And as ever, it was another neat finish from the 24-year-old, who never scores a scrappy goal.
Now, the media in Isidor’s native France have picked up on his form, and also on Le Bris. BeIN SPORTS journalist Darren Tulett praised Sunderland on his ‘Made in England’ segment, whilst also hailing the attendance of the game against Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light which officially stood at 39,846.
Tulett said: “Great goal from Frenchman Wilson Isidor, one of Sunderland’s in form players during the holidays. There was this 2-2 draw, they lost at Stoke and then the Black Cats won with another goal from Wilson Isidor. Sunderland who beat Sheffield United by two goals to one.
“So we’re going to stay there for a moment because Sunderland were playing at home against Portsmouth yesterday. Exactly, they hosted Portsmouth in front of 39,000 spectators, you realize, 39,000. Two teams with very different dynamics in the Championship.
“Sunderland is playing for the top five, Portsmouth is only three points ahead of bottom-placed Plymouth. Sunderland, coached by Frenchman Regis Le Bris who has led this team since last summer and who was once again able to count on his top scorer.
“You talked about it earlier, Wilson Isidor who was decisive. He now has eight goals in the league, making him the Black Cats’ top scorer. The player trained in Rennes, passed through Monaco, Laval in particular, before playing in Russia. He is currently on loan from Zenit Saint Petersburg to the delight of Sunderland supporters.”
Portsmouth boss says Wilson Isidor is ‘one of the best’ in the league
It’s certainly a purple patch for Isidor right now, with the striker rediscovering his scoring touch after previously going seven games without a goal.
Isidor tore apart Sheffield United with his electric pace and his sheer power on the ball, doing so against Portsmouth too, whose manager labelled him as ‘one of the best’ strikers in the entire division.
John Mousinho said about Isidor after his side’s defeat against Sunderland: “We’ve made a sloppy mistake from our throw-in and [Wilson] Isidor is one of the best centre-forwards in the division. He’s caught us out with good movement, it’s a good ball as well, and he puts it in the back of the net.”
Isidor’s form is now garnering attention from France and rightly so. He’s rapidly improving and gaining confidence, and Isidor has all the hallmark qualities of a striker who could become one of the best in Europe one day.