Switch to a 4-4-2 formation in an attempt to shackle Coventry’s free-flowing attack? Watch the Sky Blues muster just three shots at goal in the whole of the game. Pair Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda in a two-man attack that caught pretty much everyone by surprise? Watch both players score on a night when Sunderland’s counter-attacking proved irresistible.
Le Bris was being questioned ahead of the play-offs, with the Black Cats’ dreadful end to the regular season supposedly being a major handicap ahead of the play-offs. This evening, it is safe to say that Sunderland’s French head coach more than answered his critics.
Leading through Isidor’s clinical 68th-minute finish, the Black Cats were pegged back when Jack Rudoni headed home Coventry’s equaliser. A draw would have been a decent result, but a good night got even better with two minutes left when Mayenda seized on a defensive error to round the goalkeeper and roll home. The job isn’t done yet, but by winning at Coventry for the first time in 40 years, Sunderland have taken a massive step towards Wembley.
Did Le Bris’ selection surprise work? Unquestionably. Isidor and Mayenda have played together in attack on a handful of occasions this season, but Le Bris has previously stated that playing with a two-man forward line sometimes means Sunderland have to cede control in other areas of the field.
Alternatively, if deployed effectively, a 4-4-2 formation can shut off space if two well-drilled banks of four deny the opposition time and space in the final third. For most of last night, that was the story of the game.
With their modified formation meaning they could quickly pull eight or nine players behind the ball if needed, Sunderland successfully denied Coventry’s attacking players space in the final third.
There was a momentary early scare when Anthony Patterson flapped at the third of three successive early corners, but it was midway through the first half before Coventry fashioned anything approximating an opportunity, and even then, Ben Sheaf skewed a poor shot wide.
Sunderland had barely been in Coventry’s defensive third at that stage, but Mayenda’s explosive pace saw him break clear and fire wide just before the half-hour mark.
That proved a rare moment of attacking intent from the Black Cats, but Le Bris would still have been delighted with his side’s discipline and organisation. Coventry might have been the side asking the questions, but with Dan Ballard back alongside Luke O’Nien at the heart of the back four, Sunderland had the defensive answers.
Their two full-backs were especially impressive, with Trai Hume and Dennis Cirkin successfully shutting down Haji Wright and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto every time they attempted to cross. On Saturday, Middlesbrough’s defenders had been unable to contain Coventry’s wide attackers. Six days on, and Sunderland were much more successful at shutting down the supply line from the flanks.
The visitors’ attacking threat remained fleeting at best in the early stages of the second half, although a well-worked short corner routine enabled them to threaten just before the hour mark. O’Nien found Le Fee, but while the Roma loanee floated an inviting cross towards the back post, an unmarked Hume could only fire a first-time volley well wide.
Seven minutes later, and Sunderland produced another set-piece routine that had been honed on the training ground to go reasonably close again. Le Fee started it, playing a threaded free-kick to Dan Neil, and when the ball broke to Jobe Bellingham on the edge of a crowded box, the midfielder fired in a shot that was blocked when it cannoned into Ballard.
Could Sunderland make their growing pressure count? The answer arrived in the 68th minute. Le Fee broke upfield purposefully before threading a superb ball to Isidor, who pulled out to the left. The forward stepped infield after receiving possession, and curled a brilliant low finish past Stanley-born goalkeeper Ben Wilson and into the far corner. It was quite some way for Isidor to end a 13-game goalless streak.
It was not, however, to be the only goal of the game. Sunderland’s lead lasted less than two minutes before, for the first time all night, they were found wanting in the wide positions.
Milan Van Ewijk was able to break away from Cirkin and swing a cross into the middle, and Rudoni peeled away from his marker to head home.
Sunderland would have settled for that, but even better was to come with two minutes left. Le Fee’s pressure forced van Ewijk into an ill-advised pass towards his own goal that was seized upon by Mayenda. The Spaniard calmly rounded Wilson on the corner of the 18-yard box, before rolling home Sunderland’s winner into an open goal.
