Sunderland are unbeaten at home all season but the Stadium of Light record is way more impressive than it sounds

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Sunderland snatched a late equaliser against Bristol City on Tuesday night to maintain their unbeaten record at home, and keep a very special run going.

Despite recent results taking a bit of a dip, Regis Le Bris has overseen a phenomenal start to the season for Sunderland.

Of course, Le Bris knows his Sunderland team need to keep improving, but for the Black Cats to be challenging at the top of the Championship table after 20 games is mighty impressive.

More impressive still is that undefeated run at the Stadium of Light, and we’ve taken a deeper look at those ten results to see just how strong Sunderland have had to be.

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Sunderland haven’t lost at the Stadium of Light all season

Sunderland started the season with four-straight wins at the Stadium of Light, scoring eight goals and conceding none. Since then, we’ve seen four draws and two wins, but some hugely important results along the way.

Sunderland 4-0 Sheffield Wednesday

The first home game of the Championship season saw the Black Cats 3-0 up at half time against Sheffield Wednesday thanks to goals from Dennis Cirkin, Eliezer Mayenda, and Luke O’Nien. Mayenda added a second shortly after the break to secure the win.

Sunderland 1-0 Burnley

Le Bris’ side had to dig deep to claim a win against promotion-favourites Burnley, especially given Dan Neil’s red card in the 85th minute. Thankfully, Romaine Mundle’s goal in the first half was enough to secure the three points.

Sunderland 1-0 Middlesbrough

Sunderland registered another vitally important win against one of the best teams in the league and a local rival, with a first-half Chris Rigg goal proving the difference.

Sunderland 2-0 Derby County

Heading into October, Sunderland picked up another win on home turf against newly-promoted Derby County thanks to strikes from Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor. The Rams actually had plenty of chances to get something from the game, but the Black Cats’ defence stood firm.

Sunderland 2-2 Leeds United

The Sunderland barricade was finally broken on October 4, and Le Bris’ men were lucky to escape with a draw, in truth. Rigg had given the home side the lead within ten minutes, but Leeds fought back with goals from Joel Piroe and Junior Firpo.

However, the latter netted an own goal in the seventh minute of injury time to rescue a point for Sunderland.

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Sunderland 2-0 Oxford United

Another promoted side came to the Stadium of Light and left absolutely empty-handed as Sunderland dominated Oxford United in a 2-0 win. It was Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor on the scoresheet yet again for the Black Cats, but in truth, Sunderland could have had five or six on the day.

Sunderland 2-2 Coventry City

Sunderland’s dip in form included a few frustrating home draws, including this one against Coventry City. The home team held a 2-0 lead at half time here thanks to goals from Cirkin and Isidor, but threw it away in the second half.

Sunderland 0-0 West Brom

A fairly drab goalless draw against West Brom kept the run going, but fans were unhappy with the ‘wasteful’ display of Tommy Watson on the night.

Sunderland 2-1 Stoke City

That perception changed entirely when Tommy Watson fired his first two goals for the club just last weekend to seal an impressive injury time win over a resilient Stoke City side. Watson absolutely changed the game against Stoke, and helped Sunderland get back to winning ways finally after six without a victory.

Sunderland 1-1 Bristol City

Sunderland dominated the first half against Bristol City in midweek, but failed to put away their chances and were punished for poor defending after the interval. Thankfully, another injury time goal, this time from Patrick Roberts, kept the unbeaten run alive.

• READ MORE: Regis Le Bris offers injury update on Tommy Watson as Sunderland wonderkid limps off in ‘pain’ vs Bristol City

Sunderland have gone toe-to-toe with the top teams in the league at home

Any unbeaten run of this nature will always be impressive, especially in the wildly unpredictable and chaotic Championship, but Sunderland have pulled off some incredible results this season when you look at it.

Defeating both Burnley and Middlesbrough at home, without conceding a goal, is a huge feat given the two teams’ current league position. So too, is the fact Sunderland managed to avoid defeat against Leeds United, who look likely to win the whole thing this year.

We’ve seen Sunderland struggle to fight back from deficits so far this season, but that has changed now since the Stoke win. The young Sunderland squad is building a resilience and mental fortitude, particularly at home, that will serve them well this season.

Now, we look ahead to the home game against Norwich City, which will be a decent test against a very inconsistent team, and of course, the clash with Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light on New Years’ Day.

If Sunderland can avoid defeat against both of those teams, we could be looking at a truly special run this season, and one that could end up helping the Black Cats achieve their promotion dreams.