Wearside will always be a special place for James Milner. On Boxing Day 2002 he scored his first Premier League goal for Leeds here, at the age of 16 years and 356 days. Who, back then, could possibly have imagined that the 40-year-old Milner would have been back at the Stadium of Light on Saturday as an impressive part of Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton midfield?
He played the entire game too, helping guide the 33-year-old Hürzeler’s team to their first win at Sunderland since 1981 as the injury-hit hosts could find no riposte to Yankuba Minteh’s fortuitous second-half winner.
With Robin Roefs still hamstrung, Melker Ellborg made his home debut for Sunderland. The former Malmö goalkeeper soon showed off some impressive potential by stretching out a leg to make a fine save to deny Jack Hinshelwood.
No Brighton player would ruffle Sunderland’s defence more than Hinshelwood as he asked all sorts of awkward questions from the No 10 role behind Danny Welbeck. Hinshelwood’s only problem was that when Welbeck cued him up for a second scoring opportunity he wasted it by shooting straight at Ellborg. Welbeck, meanwhile, is remembered with affection here after impressing for Sunderland during a loan stint from Manchester United in 2010-11.
