NOTTINGHAM, England :Sunderland are only six games into their first Premier League campaign for nearly a decade but after Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest have almost half the total amount of points they managed when they were relegated in 2017.
Regis Le Bris’s side were among the favourites for the drop after returning to the top flight following a playoff victory over Sheffield United in May.
But under the Frenchman’s watchful eye, they have been the surprise package of the season so far, winning three and drawing two of their opening six games to move into the top four with 11 points. In 2016-17 they managed 24 and finished rock bottom.
“It was good to win because it wasn’t an easy challenge,” Le Bris said. “It was our first away win in the league, so I’m really proud of our fans and our squad because we worked hard.”
Omar Alderete’s first-half goal was the difference between the two sides at the City Ground with Sunderland mounting a staunch rearguard action as Forest laid siege to their goal.
“They have many threats and are really good on the ball,” Le Bris said. “After we scored the first goal, their substitutions added five more attackers but we expected that.
“We defended well with the back five. The players were well connected, they worked hard, and we had a good goalkeeper.”
While Sunderland’s fans are pinching themselves at seeing their side so high in the standings, Forest’s might be scratching their heads at events at their club this season.
They began the season solidly enough but Nuno Espirito Santo, who guided them back into Europe with a seventh-placed finish last season, was sacked after a public fall-out with owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou replaced him but the Australian has won none of his first five games in charge, losing three and drawing two.
Defeat, harsh as it was after they created a host of chances, left Forest 16th in the table.
“Tough to take. It’s another game that got away from us and that has been the story of the last four or five games,” Postecoglou said. “Really disappointing goal to concede and we don’t take our chances and that means we don’t get the result we wanted.
“We had enough chances to win it or get something out of the game but we have been pretty wasteful in front of goal and that means we have not been able to get the points we need.”
