🔗 Share this article The Black Cats Mimic Famous Newcastle Team Photo In the Wake of Pivotal Local Rivalry Victory. The team gathered for a celebratory photograph to mark their success over their arch-rivals. New leadership and an almost completely different team – but someone at Sunderland remembered vividly. Almost 24 months prior, after a dominant Newcastle performance at the Stadium of Light in an FA Cup tie, the rivals commemorated the moment with a team picture on the pitch. Now, the roles were flipped. Nick Woltemade's unfortunate deflection proved sufficient to give Sunderland a long-awaited win over their rivals in the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016 – prompting the hosts to recreate Newcastle's post-match snapshot at full-time. “Always unpredictable, creative, adaptive,” smiled Black Cats manager Regis le Bris when asked about who suggested the gesture. Defender Dan Ballard, who was unfortunate to score an own goal in that 2024 FA Cup tie, was the lone Sunderland player to start in the two games. He disclosed how he was eager to rectify the loss, stating: “Words can't express it. It was so painful for the players and for the fans. We felt we had let them down, so we're ecstatic with this win.” “It served as motivation. We came in with improved ability in this team, strong personalities, we stuck in there, fought really hard and I thought we deserved the win.” Sunderland paid homage to this picture from Newcastle's 2024 FA Cup victory over the Black Cats. ‘Local clashes are must-wins, by any means necessary’ Sitting in seventh Sunderland are experiencing a superb return to the top flight following promotion via the play-offs last season. The Black Cats have 26 points in 16 games, their most at this stage of a Premier League campaign since 2000-01. They are undefeated in the league at the Stadium of Light, which was filled with an feverish atmosphere for most of Sunday afternoon. “In local rivalry matches, the result is everything, the performance secondary,” said captain Granit Xhaka. “This team deserves much more – where we are in the league is incredible and we're working really hard.” Sunderland are also without a loss 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 “delighted and satisfied” with the outcome. “It was a derby and we were expected [to win] of our fans,” he stated. “This win is well deserved, we were disciplined and the lads were incredible.” “It's fantastic for the region, the club, the fans. We knew before it was a special game, but we have to turn the page as we have another hard game in Brighton in one week.” The Sunderland scoreboard at Stadium of Light chose not to show Newcastle's name.
The team gathered for a celebratory photograph to mark their success over their arch-rivals. New leadership and an almost completely different team – but someone at Sunderland remembered vividly. Almost 24 months prior, after a dominant Newcastle performance at the Stadium of Light in an FA Cup tie, the rivals commemorated the moment with a team picture on the pitch. Now, the roles were flipped. Nick Woltemade's unfortunate deflection proved sufficient to give Sunderland a long-awaited win over their rivals in the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016 – prompting the hosts to recreate Newcastle's post-match snapshot at full-time. “Always unpredictable, creative, adaptive,” smiled Black Cats manager Regis le Bris when asked about who suggested the gesture. Defender Dan Ballard, who was unfortunate to score an own goal in that 2024 FA Cup tie, was the lone Sunderland player to start in the two games. He disclosed how he was eager to rectify the loss, stating: “Words can't express it. It was so painful for the players and for the fans. We felt we had let them down, so we're ecstatic with this win.” “It served as motivation. We came in with improved ability in this team, strong personalities, we stuck in there, fought really hard and I thought we deserved the win.” Sunderland paid homage to this picture from Newcastle's 2024 FA Cup victory over the Black Cats. ‘Local clashes are must-wins, by any means necessary’ Sitting in seventh Sunderland are experiencing a superb return to the top flight following promotion via the play-offs last season. The Black Cats have 26 points in 16 games, their most at this stage of a Premier League campaign since 2000-01. They are undefeated in the league at the Stadium of Light, which was filled with an feverish atmosphere for most of Sunday afternoon. “In local rivalry matches, the result is everything, the performance secondary,” said captain Granit Xhaka. “This team deserves much more – where we are in the league is incredible and we're working really hard.” Sunderland are also without a loss 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 “delighted and satisfied” with the outcome. “It was a derby and we were expected [to win] of our fans,” he stated. “This win is well deserved, we were disciplined and the lads were incredible.” “It's fantastic for the region, the club, the fans. We knew before it was a special game, but we have to turn the page as we have another hard game in Brighton in one week.” The Sunderland scoreboard at Stadium of Light chose not to show Newcastle's name.