Sunderland Recreate Notorious Magpies Group Snapshot After ‘Special’ Derby Victory.

A different manager and an almost completely different team – but someone at Sunderland had a long memory.

Nearly two years ago, after Newcastle's thumping 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light in an FA Cup tie, the rivals celebrated with a group photo on the pitch.

On this occasion, the script were flipped.

Nick Woltemade's unfortunate deflection proved sufficient to give Sunderland a historic win over their rivals in the return of the Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016 – prompting the hosts to stage their own version of Newcastle's iconic snapshot at full-time.

“Always unpredictable, creative, adaptive,” remarked Black Cats manager Regis le Bris when questioned about who suggested the idea.

Defender Dan Ballard, who scored an own goal in that previous encounter, was the lone Sunderland player to feature from the beginning in the two games.

He explained how he was determined to make amends for the loss, stating: “Words can't express it. It was agonizing for the players and for the fans. We felt we had disappointed them, so we're ecstatic with this win.”

“That experience hardened us. We came in with greater talent in this team, real leaders, we dug deep, fought really hard and I thought we merited the win.”

‘Local clashes are must-wins, by any means necessary’

Seventh-placed Sunderland are experiencing a excellent return to the top flight post promotion via the play-offs last season.

The Black Cats have 26 points on the board in 16 games, their highest total at this stage of a Premier League campaign since 2000-01.

They are still unbeaten in the league at the Stadium of Light, which boasted an electric atmosphere for most of Sunday afternoon.

“In local rivalry matches, the result is everything, the performance secondary,” said captain Granit Xhaka. “This team merits greater recognition – where we are in the league is amazing and we're working really hard.”

Sunderland are also unbeaten in their last 10 league games against Newcastle, their longest such run without defeat against the Magpies.

Newcastle's last league win over Sunderland was all the way back in 2011.

Manager Regis le Bris said he was “proud and happy” with the result.

“It was a derby and we were expected [to win] of our fans,” he continued. “This win is rightfully earned, we were disciplined and the lads were incredible.”

“It's fantastic for the region, the club, the fans. We knew before it was a huge game, but we have to reset quickly as we have another hard game in Brighton in one week.”