Three minutes into stoppage time Noah Sadiki hurdled a set of advertising hoardings sprinted across a running track and hurled himself at the jubilant Sunderland fans. Just as those supporters’ long awaited party in Portugal had looked in peril of falling a little flat, the Democratic Republic of Congo midfielder capitalised on excellent work from Enzo Le Fée and Granit Xhaka to lash home an eye-catching first goal for Régis Le Bris’s side. It meant Sunderland had come from behind to secure a second straight Europa League win and their relief was evident as every outfield player followed Sadiki in vaulting those hoardings to join the celebrations.
With Torreense’s home ground an hour down the motorway towards Lisbon in Torres Vedras, too small to accommodate European football, Leiria’s stadium stood in. It proved quite some substitute. An arena overlooked by a 12th-century castle constructed to defend this attractive medieval town in central Portugal against reconquest by the Moors created an imposing backdrop to Sunderland’s first competitive trip to the continent for 53 years.
Back in 1973 they were second division FA Cup holders. Torreense know the feeling. Having provoked widespread shock by beating Sporting to win the Portuguese Cup last spring Luís Tralhão’s second tier side relish their underdog status.
After winning at Lillestrøm last month, Torreense aim to keep the surprises coming and duly left a heavily rotated Sunderland trailing at the break. Le Bris had left Xhaka, Le Fée and Nordi Mukiele on the bench ahead of Sunday’s vital Premier League trip to Bournemouth. This reshuffle permitted Luke O’Nien, a survivor from League One days, to captain Sunderland from central defence and he headed an early chance from a corner narrowly wide.
There were plenty of travelling supporters to cheer O’Nien and co on as the ground turned into a sea of red and white. Although only 4,000 official tickets had been given to Sunderland they were readily available locally and estimates suggested the formal allocation had doubled. As the sun dropped and the temperature fell from a high of 28C those fans watched a rather unconvincing first half on Sunderland’s part.
It seemed telling that the normally fairly impassive Le Bris looked distinctly, and unusually, irritated and frustrated at times. Granted his humour was hardly helped by the referee’s penchant for detecting phantom Sunderland fouls but ominously Malick Fofana, a £30m summer signing from Lyon, was struggling wide on the left. Ditto Nilson Angulo on the right wing.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
