David Moyes, the manager who oversaw a disastrous relegation for Sunderland eight years ago, found a very different club on his first return to the Stadium of Light. Back then, Sunderland were on a downward slope. Now, things are on the up.
Régis Le Bris’ impressive Sunderland moved up to fourth place ahead of Saturday’s home game against Arsenal after a 1-1 draw against Moyes’ Everton side. A deflected strike from the impressive Granit Xhaka cancelled out Iliman Ndiaye’s brilliant opening goal.
Everton had dominated much of the first half, and will have counted themselves unfortunate not to be further ahead at the break, with Sunderland uncharacteristically having been on the back foot on home turf for the first half hour. It was a different story after the break, as Sunderland laid siege to the Everton goal, but they could not force a winner.
Still, the result moved the home side up to 18 points, almost halfway to safety, with just 10 games gone. That is a remarkable feat for a team which had been expected to be competing further down the table. They will face its biggest top-flight challenge yet when Mikel Arteta brings the Premier League leaders to Wearside.
Moyes had taken charge of Sunderland at short notice in the summer of 2016 for what would prove to be a long and troubled season after Sam Allardyce left to take charge of England. Moyes would last longer at the Stadium of Light than Allardyce would at the Football Association, but the injury-ravaged campaign did not end well. Sunderland bought badly, and the season ended badly. The team went down with just 24 points – and Moyes resigned.
