Sunderland shocked the home crowd as they staged a stunning late turnaround to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, thus ending the Blues’ run of four consecutive wins in all competitions. Besides, they climbed to second in the Premier League table.
Just four minutes into the game, Chelsea took the lead when Alejandro Garnacho scored his first goal for the club after a neat finish through Robin Roefs’ legs. However, Sunderland did not take long to respond to the challenge and they equalized midway through the first half as Wilson Isidor reacted quickest in a goalmouth scramble to flick the ball past Robert Sánchez.
The Black Cats kept on annoying the home team who, however, had two good chances through Garnacho and Trevoh Chalobah before the break. After the interval, manager Enzo Maresca brought on the talented Estêvão, and the Brazilian almost made an instant impact with a deflected shot that was a close miss.
However, it was long after the time that Sunderland were rewarded for their determination when Brian Brobbey, the substitute, after briefly holding up play, set up Chemsdine Talbi who fired home the winner, much to the silence of the home crowd.
The win takes Sunderland’s run without defeat in London to 14 league games, while Chelsea fall to seventh — three points behind a brave Sunderland side that are dreaming of an improbable title challenge.
