Regis Le Bris made two changes to the side which drew at Tottenham at the weekend, with Chris Rigg preferred over Eliezer Mayenda and Dan Ballard returning to the starting eleven at the expense of Dennis Cirkin. Trai Hume moved over to left back while Lutsharel Geertruida returned to central midfield.
The first half began with a competitive midfield battle, but some rustiness at the back, which would telegraph much of the second half. Omar Alderete was either caught in possession or gave the ball away three times in the opening ten minutes, each instance leading to a slick Brentford counter-attack through the equally impressive Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago, which the Sunderland defence and Robin Roefs stood up well to.
Sunderland fought well and looked a little less lethargic than in the first half down at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, but in truth, created little. The best chances of the half fell to Ballard and Alderete, both coming close to getting on the end of crosses resulting from set-piece situations. We only created one chance through open play as Brian Brobbey forced his way past Kristoffer Ajer and struck a shot wide across goal from the right-hand side of the penalty area, and our only shot on goal in the half was Granit Xhaka’s long-range free kick.
The key difference between the two came from the impressive Thiago. Nordi Mukiele was dispossessed perhaps too easily in midfield, and Thiago immediately set off behind our defensive line. Ballard and Aalderete stepped up to play the offside trap, but Hume delayed and played the Brazilian onside. Thiago cleverly rounded Roefs and slotted the ball home.
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND – JANUARY 07: Keane Lewis-Potter of Brentford is challenged by Trai Hume of Sunderland during the Premier League match between Brentford and Sunderland at Gtech Community Stadium on January 07, 2026 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images) Getty Images
Sunderland responded well in the second half, outplaying and out-battling Brentford for the first 15 minutes. Brobbey – who won most of his individual duels in the first half but was too isolated to take advantage – had willing runners around him. Enzo Le Fee shot over from the edge of the box, Romaine Mundle (who was an early second-half replacement for Simon Adingra, with Mayenda also replacing Rigg) dragged a shot wide from a promising counter, and Alderete headed over unmarked at the front post from a wicked Xhaka free kick.
Then, the turning point. Excellent work from Mayenda and Brobbey led to the latter being taken down by Ajer, with Brobbey again showcasing his just unnatural upper-body strength. Le Fee stepped up. He’s got a 100% record this season from the spot and has already put one past Kelleher. Yet, for some reason, he decided to try a panenka. Kelleher has saved 7 of 12 penalties faced in his career, and his strength lies in using his acrobatic dive to reach the ball by moving only after the ball is kicked. Le Fee’s panenka was doomed to fail against this keeper, who naturally just stood tall and easily claimed the ball. In fact, Kelleher has the highest save percentage (67%) of all keepers who have faced five or more penalties in Premier League history.
BRENTFORD, ENGLAND – JANUARY 07: Enzo Le Fee of Sunderland takes the penalty kick which is saved by Caoimhin Kelleher of Brentford during the Premier League match between Brentford and Sunderland at Gtech Community Stadium on January 07, 2026 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) Getty Images
At that point, the game stood on a knife-edge. Get the goal, get back level, and we can sit and soak. Brentford are supremely impressive on the counter, but could they break us down when we sit deep? We’ll never know. In the second half, they were imperious out wide as we looked more and more like a team stretched and struggling. We’ve played 4 games in 10 days without 6 players to AFCON, with Ballard and Wilson Isisdor injured during this period, and players featuring in the second half today who likely won’t even make the bench in ten days against Palace. It felt like a game too far after some very difficult fixtures and energy-sapping backs-against-the-wall defensive performances.
Hume struggled to contain Keane Lewis-Potter and Michael Kayode on the counter; Schade pinned back Mukiele, Ballard had one of his physically most difficult tests of the season against Thiago, Alderete found a red and white shirt too often (but we played in blue), and both wingers couldn’t beat a man in the first half. We looked outmatched physically and stretched on the counter. Regis’ early subs helped, but from the moment the penalty was missed, the game felt like it was gone, and you could’ve bet there, and then they would go up the other end and score straight away. More subs helped inject energy into the players’ flagging energy levels, and Brentford scored a third.
I don’t want to dwell on the second-half goals; they were pretty depressing at the time and even more so now, writing this – as you can probably imagine. I also don’t want to take any credit away from Brentford – they were excellent on the night and have the fourth-best home record in the league for a reason.
We’ve faltered slightly of late. It is now only 2 wins in 12, and AFCON has taken its toll. It has been a rough period of difficult fixtures that we all feared in the summer when the fixture list was announced. But we are now through it, and we all knew how difficult this would be. Easier games, returning players, and potential incomings in the transfer window are on the horizon. I have to discuss the game, and it was poor, but I don’t want to single players out. I want to applaud that we have only lost 3 in 14, that 21 games in, we still sit in the top 10. We haven’t dropped out of that top 10 all season long – only Arsenal and Man City can say the same. Yes, Le Fee’s penalty was the turning point. But he has also been on fire recently with some incredible performances and has our joint-most combined goals and assists this season. Wilson Isidor suffered similarly at Burnley last season, and he got through it with our support; Enzo needs us now.
Let’s use this weekend to rest some players who have fought ‘Til the End for every point in the last six weeks. Those who have stood tall and only suffered one loss in five without our lads at AFCON, when everyone outside of Sunlun wrote us off and expected the wheels to totally fall off with successive defeats. If this represents the nadir of the season, then it’s been one hell of a season so far.