Sunderland beat Newcastle 1-0

By : Guardian Nigeria

Date: 14 December 2025 9:42pm WAT

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Football

Football

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris said that Sunday’s memorable victory against Newcastle in the first Premier League Tyne–Wear derby for nearly a decade would not go to their heads.

The 1-0 win over their local northeast rivals at the Stadium of Light lifted the promoted Black Cats to seventh place in the table, on 26 points.

The victory came courtesy of an own goal from Newcastle’s record signing Nick Woltemade, moments after the start of the second half.

Sunderland’s players celebrated the three points with a group photograph on the pitch after the final whistle, mimicking what Newcastle had done after their 3-0 FA Cup win on Wearside in January of last year.

But the Frenchman insisted that they would not get carried away.

“We have to stay smart and respectful. It’s a game and when you win, you’re happy,” he said.

“After that, obviously, we have players who were here for a long time, so they probably know better than the new ones how important this derby is, especially when you lost the previous one.

“Now it’s a question of just being composed. I repeat: you can enjoy and then reset because we have another tough challenge in a week.”

Sunderland dominated possession before the break and then, as Eddie Howe’s men launched an ultimately unsuccessful fightback after conceding the goal, defended stoically.

The last time the teams faced each other in the Premier League was in March 2016, a match that ended in a 1-1 draw. Sunday’s defeat left Newcastle 12th in the table ahead of this week’s League Cup quarter-final against Fulham.

They also remain in contention to qualify automatically for the Champions League last 16.

“We know our performance was off what we needed it to be, not from a defensive perspective, where I thought we defended pretty well throughout the game, but we weren’t good enough to open them up,” said Howe.

“Criticism comes with every defeat, but of course with this one, I think it will be louder and stronger just because of the importance of the game. We fully acknowledge that.

“That’s why it hurts so much.”

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