Sunderland made it a Tyne-Wear derby double by beating Newcastle 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Newcastle took a 10th-minute lead after Sunderland goalkeeper Melker Ellborg played a short goal kick to Luke O’Nien. O’Nien’s clearance went straight to Nick Woltemade, who played in Anthony Gordon. Gordon finished past Ellborg. The hosts nearly doubled their lead in the 42nd minute when Sven Botman headed toward goal, only for it to be turned away.
There was a blow for Newcastle shortly into the second half as Botman had to be substituted off due to injury. There was also a delay as the game was paused due to a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd, directed at Sunderland’s Lutsharel Geertruida.
Today’s match between Newcastle United and Sunderland was temporarily paused during the second half after a report of discriminatory abuse from the crowd, directed at Sunderland’s Lutsharel Geertruida.
This is in line with the Premier League’s on-field…
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) March 22, 2026
And shortly after that, Chemsdine Talbi levelled for Sunderland, latching on to a ball that was bouncing around the area after a corner and firing past Aaron Ramsdale. Malick Thiaw appeared to have put Newcastle ahead in the 73rd minute after heading in a corner, however Jacob Murphy was in an offside position and was deemed to be interfering with the goalkeeper, which led to referee Anthony Taylor disallowing the goal.
Then came the winning goal for the visitors in the 90th minute. The ball was crossed to Brian Brobbey, whose first shot was saved by Ramsdale. But the ball rebounded straight to Brobbey, who shot again to win the game.
Here, The Athletic’s experts Chris Waugh and Greg O’Keeffe break down Sunday’s game.
How damaging is another derby defeat for Newcastle?
Marooned in mid-table and scrambling to salvage something tangible from their campaign. Out of all three knockout competitions after Wednesday’s humbling 7-2 loss at the Camp Nou, Newcastle are in the bottom half of the Premier League, behind Sunderland, four points behind seventh-placed Brentford with seven games remaining and adrift of the European positions.
For Eddie Howe, he has also lost both of his first two league derbies. The head coach tasted victory in the FA Cup two years ago, but the clubs were in different divisions then; newly promoted Sunderland have taken six points from Newcastle this season.
After an encouraging first-half display, Newcastle have once again dropped points from a winning position. The 22 they have coughed up when ahead is the most in the Premier League, and their inability to retain leads is a key reason why they will not qualify for the Champions League.
Sunderland’s grip on this league fixture continues too, which will exasperate many Newcastle fans. Newcastle are winless in the top flight against Sunderland in 11 games and last won on Tyneside in 2010.
While the Wearsiders reserve their best for this fixture, Newcastle continue to struggle to produce against their local rivals. The mitigation is that this was their 51st game of the season, a European-high figure, and Newcastle played a breathless Champions League tie in midweek.
But mitigation counts little when it comes to Tyne-Wear derbies. Newcastle insisted they would deliver this time yet, having started promisingly, they wilted. The ending was truly shambolic and may well have repercussions.
Chris Waugh
Is this a sign of a bright future for Sunderland?
Derbies are not always the most reliable barometer of a team’s long-term fortunes.
The emotion attached can magnify their importance beyond the points on offer, and temporarily warp the conversation around a team’s wider progress.
Sunderland’s return to the top flight has, albeit with a couple of caveats as the season has worn on, been a resounding success.
So just as nobody should have been getting too carried away if they had taken just a point at St James’ Park, once the delight on Wearside has died down (in a few weeks… or months), they will not learn everything about their future from Sunday afternoon.
But as they did double over Newcastle for the first time in 12 years, via such a spirited response to that self-inflicted first-half pain, it underlined the resilience and belief Regis Le Bris has built into this team.
Sunderland’s players and fans may have been greeted with a banner at St James’ Park welcoming them back to the ‘region’s capital’ after such a long time away, but Talbi’s goal ensured they were not the punchline of this Tyne-Wear tussle. Then, thanks to Brobbey, the last laugh was very much theirs.
In the end, it was the home fans with butterflies in their stomachs at times as Sunderland varied their approach and got more joy out of Brobbey’s presence. Then the Netherlands forward pounced and wrote his name into north east folklore.
The Wearsiders still look a decent bet for a mid-table finish, but this victory improved an aspect of their form that must step up again for them to flourish next term. Keeping Brobbey in the summer feels crucial too.
The win was just their fourth on the road this season in the Premier League. If they can fix their lapses away from the Stadium of Light, the future looks brighter still.
Greg O’Keeffe
Brian Brobbey hits his winning goal (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Could anyone have predicted this version of the Gordon/Woltemade link-up?
When Woltemade arrived for £64million ($85.4m) during the final week of the summer window, the idea was that he would lead the line and release Gordon to return to his natural left-wing position.
Fast-forward seven months, and it is Gordon who is playing as a No 9 and Woltemade is doing the providing from an unfamiliar No 8 berth, which Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann has openly questioned.
But, at least for now, Newcastle look far better suited to having a runner up front and to deploying Woltemade’s creativity deeper, especially given Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali were both unavailable for the derby due to injury.
Inside 49 seconds, Gordon pressed Omar Alderete and forced a mistake. Before the fifth minute had passed, he blocked an attempted ball upfield from Ellborg, the goalkeeper, who dallied in possession.
Woltemade is simply unable to provide such sprinting capacity and, although the German is supremely talented, he is a stylistically different centre-forward. Gordon, meanwhile, may not be a natural striker, but he can lead the press and win possession high.
Ironically, it was Woltemade’s pressing that facilitated the opener. He stuck tightly to Granit Xhaka and, when O’Nien attempted to launch a pass through midfield from his own box, Woltemade intercepted and directed a first-time ball to Gordon.
The England international skipped past two Sunderland defenders and finished well across goal. That was his 17th in all competitions this season but only his sixth in the Premier League, although this is the first time he has scored in three successive games. Gordon did waste a late shooting chance, which spoke to the fact he is not a natural finisher.
This is not how it was supposed to be, but Woltemade providing for Gordon and not the other way round is Newcastle’s best ploy — for now, at least.
Chris Waugh
Anthony Gordon celebrates his early goal (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Did Sunderland play into Newcastle’s hands in the first half?
Whatever Ellborg whispered to O’Nien shortly before the clock showed 10 minutes, it would not have been: “Take this pass with an awkward body shape, don’t look up properly and then send an inept pass straight to Nick Woltemade.” Nope, it won’t have been that.
The Sunderland ‘keeper could not have predicted what would ome next, and his manager could not have envisaged his team handing the initiative to their rivals quite as ineptly as they did.
Le Bris may well have called for composure in possession, cool heads and having the courage of their convictions to build from the back.
But in the intensity of a Tyne-Wear derby, he will definitely not have wanted his Sunderland team to repeatedly play into Newcastle’s hands.
That’s what they did from the start at St James’ Park, constantly playing themselves into trouble under a typically aggressive press. Starting from that early O’Nien error, which let Gordon profit, the tone was set.
The visitors made too many errors with the ball from back to front, but their centre-backs were both especially guilty of being too loose in possession. O’Nien completed just 64 per cent of his first-half passes, and Alderete 76 per cent. At the other end, Botman was at 91 per cent and Dan Burn 81 per cent.
The first half, at least, went to the side that kept their heads. Yet Sunderland resolved it so clearly in the second half.
Greg O’Keeffe
What happened outside the stadium pre-match?
Tensions are always heightened on Tyne-Wear derby day, and ahead of the game some scuffles broke out as Sunderland fans made their way to St James’ Park.
Bottles were thrown at coaches full of Sunderland fans as they made their way to the ground, then, as some of those supporters made their way into the ground, a few minor skirmishes appeared to take place, with flares going off and punches being thrown.
Amid the usual derby-day chaos, a very unfortunate incident unrelated to the physical exchanges between supporters took place. A Newcastle fan collapsed outside Shark Bar on Gallowgate, opposite St James’, and received medical attention before being taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) for further treatment.
Chris Waugh
What did Eddie Howe say?
“Painful, tough afternoon for us,” Howe told Sky Sports. “Positive start, I thought when we scored we would go on and dominate but we never capitalised on that momentum. The first half fizzed out and second half we were second best. I didn’t like our performance. Technically we were poor. The defeat is harsh on us but we didn’t play well enough.”
Asked if Newcastle’s fixture congestion played a part, he added: “I’m reluctant to use that as an excuse. Logic would tell you yes, but we have to do better. We have to really look at ourselves and make sure we learn from all the mistakes we have made and we made a few today. This has happened before, it isn’t a one off.“
“These are big momentum swingers for us,” he said about Thiaw’s disallowed goal. “We wanted a second goal, we couldn’t find it. Sunderland grew into the game. We needed to defend with our lives and defend better than we did.”
On his message to players: “We have had to learn a lot. It’s going to need a lot of character to respond. We never give up, we always go for what we can.”
And on the game being paused for alleged racist abuse, he said: “We don’t condone any form of racism and it’s something the club will investigate.”
What did Regis Le Bris say?
“We didn’t start well with an early mistake,” he told Sky Sports when asked how Sunderland won. “Through our identity. We stayed composed, well-aligned with what we wanted to do. It’s a tough place, they are intense with their crowd but the team reacted well. We were emotional at half-time because it matters, this game is important and we didn’t want to lose. We stayed together, pushed together and the second half was good for that. We suffered at times but we enjoyed as well some opportunities and played good football.”
On the goal Sunderland conceded, he added: “I don’t know. You can make mistakes. It’s a hard phase when we start from a dead ball. I know the intention, but the execution wasn’t good.”
“We started this game with six or seven players injured. It means the others stepped up and it shows the quality of the group. Today they did really well, I am proud and really pleased.”
And on the reported crowd abuse directed towards Lutsharel Geertruida, he said: “I don’t really know what happened, but it’s not acceptable. The referee acted well because he reported the problem which is the first step. He (Geertruida) seems OK, but we will see.”
What next for Newcastle?
Sunday, April 12: Crystal Palace (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET