Régis Le Bris hopes to sign another striker before the transfer window music stops on Monday night but maybe, just maybe, Wilson Isidor gave Sunderland’s manager stoppage-time pause for thought.
Isidor stepped off the bench to score his second goal in three Premier League appearances as Le Bris’s team made it two wins from three. With this degree of defensive organisation allied to Enzo Le Fée’s creative midfield flair they could yet make a successful adaptation to their new top-tier habitat.
“Enzo understands football,” said Le Bris after acknowledging a match of “fine margins” had gone Sunderland’s way. “He can play different positions. He made a massive impact.”
Like Le Bris, Brentford’s ultimately “very disappointed” manager Keith Andrews is clearly no mug when it comes to setting up a team, he just lacked a striker to fill the huge gap vacated by the once-again absent Yoane Wissa. Andrews reiterated he “fully expects” Wissa to still be a Brentford player on Tuesday.
Andrews does at least have Dango Ouattara. Le Bris was probably not too surprised when the 22-year-old controlled a lovely first-half reverse pass from Nathan Collins before embarking on a run that would sweep him between Sunderland’s central defensive partnership of Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete. Indeed Le Bris looked suitably resigned when Brentford’s club record £42.5m summer signing from Bournemouth proceeded to roll a wonderfully audacious shot beyond a deceived Robin Roefs.
Le Bris had seen it all before; after all he was the coach who spent countless hours honing Ouattara’s game, first in Lorient’s reserve side and then the first team. All that work ultimately helped earn the Burkina Faso winger a £20m transfer to Bournemouth and now he was relishing a chance to remind his mentor just how good he is. Not that he could quite outwit a VAR check that, in highlighting his fractional offside, rode to Sunderland’s rescue.
In showing off some impressive passing and movement, not to mention fluid positional interchanging, the home side had frequently looked assured but, despite some nice touches from Le Fée – incidentally another graduate of the French football factory otherwise known as Lorient – they created relatively little of menace.
That was partly down to Jordan Henderson’s presence at the base of Brentford’s midfield. On his return to the club where he began his career and once enjoyed local-hero status, Henderson played well, slowing things down when necessary and contributing the odd high-calibre, long through-pass.
Le Bris must have been suitably relieved that another of his Lorient proteges was not around to connect with those deliveries. Andrews had left Wissa behind in London as the DR Congo striker continued to agitate for a move to Newcastle.
Those present on Wearside watched two smartly drilled sides cancelling each other out for long periods. If that was down largely to the tactical choreography of Le Bris and Andrews it also had quite a bit to do with the tempo-controlling presence of Henderson and Granit Xhaka.
Sunderland explored the possibility of signing Henderson from Ajax this summer but instead recruited Xhaka from Bayer Leverkusen to perform a similar on-field leadership role.
Yet as much as the former Arsenal midfielder played a key part in containing Brentford, Andrews’s team would have taken the lead had Roefs, Sunderland’s impressive Netherlands Under-21 goalkeeper, not saved Kevin Schade’s second-half penalty awarded after Reinildo Mandava hauled Collins down off the ball.
Schade looked mortified after aiming his kick far too close to the keeper and then relieved when Habib Diarra proved unequal to a Le Fée cross that begged to be volleyed past Caoimhín Kelleher.
A reminder that chances need to be taken was swiftly issued by Brentford. When Igor Thiago met Frank Onyeka’s cross, even Roefs had no answer to the ensuing headed finish and Sunderland were behind.
Onyeka had swiftly made his mark after replacing Henderson, who departed to a heartwarming standing ovation from his former fans. An even louder cheer greeted the penalty Le Fée directed hard, low and cleanly into the bottom right-hand corner, after Rico Henry pulled down Diarra.
All that remained was for Xhaka to exchange passes with Le Fée before whipping in a 96th-minute cross. Isidor, whose partner gave birth to their daughter on Friday, delighted in celebrating a memorable couple of days with a scoring header Kelleher touched but could not hold.
