PLAYER RATINGS: CRYSTAL PALACE

Sunderland earned their first victory of 2026 by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at the Stadium of Light. Yeremy Pino gave the away team the lead on the half hour mark before Enzo Le Fee equalised just three minutes later. Brian Brobbey then won us the game with about 20 minutes left on the clock. The win takes us up to 8th place, pending Sunday’s results.

ROBIN ROEFS: 7.5/10

Pulled off a fantastic save in the opening ten minutes, which was pretty much the busiest he was all afternoon aside from the opener. Not sure about their goal because he might have done better than to punch it away.

NORDI MUKIELE: 8/5/10

Assisted the equaliser with a good cross and was good going forward as well. A bit iffy in the air but tended to come away with it when the battle was on the ground.

DAN BALLARD: 7/10

He was quite busy at the back today but he wasn’t always at his best, Mateta fared well against him. Came so close to putting us 3-1 up in stoppage time.

OMAR ALDERETE: 8/10

Not quite as active as Ballard was but what he did do was good. Got booked in ridiculous circumstances and then was forced to go off for 30 seconds when he hadn’t even received treatment. He must have done something to the referee in a past life.

REINILDO: 7.5/10

Good to see him back, we’re a much stronger team with him on the pitch. A few instances of dodgy passing but played well overall.

GRANIT XHAKA: 8/10

His first touch was weirdly heavy at times, causing us to lose the ball. However, he was important in helping us to get the ball rolling and was good when challenging for possession.

NOAH SADIKI: 8/10

Workmanlike, as always and kept getting forward right up until the final whistle. Not a completely flawless game but nothing notable enough to pick out as criticism. Also sent the ball in for the winner.

TRAI HUME: 7.5/10

Should have scored right before they did and in the second half too. Like Mukiele, struggled to win headers. His passing wasn't always the most refined either. I think that he did well on a whole though, he got himself into good positions on both ends of the pitch.

ENZO LE FEE: 9/10

Really well taken goal and was involved in attacks often. Got the basics right too. You never really doubt his abilities when he gets on the ball.

ROMAINE MUNDLE: 6.5/10

Brought the ball forward a couple of times but then never knew what to do with it. Grew into it definitely but it would be nice to see him have a go a bit more.

BRIAN BROBBEY: 8.5/10

Messed up a chance early on but did really well with his goal. Won a few free kicks but should have had more, the referee treated him so harshly.

SUBS:

ELIEZER MAYENDA: N/A

We were playing defensively by the time he came on, so he didn’t have much time to do anything. He did manage to get a shot on goal and force the goalkeeper to work though. He needs more game time I feel, always does well with the limited minutes he gets.

DENNIS CIRKIN: N/A

Had even less time than Mayenda and made just five touches as a result.