Sunderland star was their biggest underperformer in Europe

Sunderland have beaten AZ Alkmaar at the Stadium of Light and secured three juicy points to kick off their Europa League campaign.

There’s a sentence that would have seemed alien to the Sunderland persuasion only a few years ago, with Wearsiders locked in League One purgatory and seemingly condemned to an endless run of misery.

REUTERS/Lee Smith

But 53 years on from the Mackems last foray into continental competition, they have bagged themselves a win to set an early tone for the 2026/27 campaign, and it was Enzo Le Fee who sealed the deal.

How Enzo Le Fee led Sunderland to victory

Le Fee is turning into quite the talisman for Sunderland. Having arrived midway through their promotion campaign in the Championship, he has become a mainstay in Regis Le Bris‘ system, a slept-on maestro who has started strongly from No. 10 this term.

Frenchman Le Fee produced a consummate performance against Sunderland’s Dutch opponents, looking for purchase in attack throughout the evening, duelling like a swordsman, showing a combative side that has made him indispensible in Le Bris’ system.

There’s no question that the 26-year-old suffered a torrid start to the evening, his sloppiness on the ball almost allowing AZ to score an early opener, but to say he grew into the game would be an understatement, and his confidently dispatched penalty paid dividends, a worthy reward for his persistence as the hosts’ driving force in attack.

Sunderland lacked something in their playmaking last season, but Le Fee was still one of the main men in that regard, creating 13 big chances across the Premier League season, more than any of his Black Cat teammates.

It was a fantastic performance from Sunderland, but not everyone hit the right notes, with Le Fee’s creativity and impetus unable to benefit one struggler in attack.

Why Le Bris must drop 2-pass Sunderland star

Sunderland may struggle to match last year’s resounding seventh-place finish in the Premier League, but there’s no question that Le Bris has the tools to make this another special season on Wearside.

REUTERS/Scott Heppell

However, it was a much quieter summer transfer window this time around, and the French manager may come to rue the club’s failure to sign an out-and-out striker to rival Brian Brobbey, with Wilson Isidor flattering to deceive at No. 9 in the Europa League.

Isidor has been a valued member of the Sunderland persuasion for some time now, instrumental in helping Le Bris guide the club out of the second tier, but he only played a bit-part role in the Premier League last year, and it’s clear that he hasn’t made the requisite improvements to start every week this year around.

REUTERS/Lee Smith

It’s not a striker’s job to connect play, but Isidor only completed two passes all evening before being hooked for Nilson Angulo after 67 minutes. He did win three duels and made three defensive contributions, but Isidor doesn’t offer anything that Brobbey already brings with more aplomb to the team.

In fairness, he did connect fairly well with Le Fee across the course of the evening, showcasing more confident movement than we often saw last season, but it wasn’t enough to earn him a second goal of the campaign, skewing a good chance when played through by the aforementioned Frenchman.

Isidor will pop up with a few big moments throughout the campaign, but in a way, he is Brobbey lite: a powerful and resilient target man.

Sunderland might have struck gold when signing Malick Fofana from Lyon at the end of the summer transfer window, but this is going to be a long and winding season, and they may come to regret the failure to land a dynamic centre-forward to add the dimension up top that Europa League football and a second season in the Premier League demands.

When taking everything into account, there’s no question that Isidor isn’t the finest striker in the country.