Sunderland Recreate Famous Newcastle Squad Picture In the Wake of Crucial Local Rivalry Win.

A different manager and a largely changed squad – but someone at Sunderland remembered vividly.

Nearly two years ago, after a dominant Newcastle performance at the Stadium of Light in an FA Cup tie, the Geordies celebrated with a team picture on the pitch.

On this occasion, the situation were turned on their head.

Nick Woltemade's unfortunate deflection proved enough to hand Sunderland a long-awaited win over their rivals in the return of the Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016 – prompting the hosts to mimic Newcastle's post-match snapshot at full-time.

“Always unpredictable, creative, adaptive,” said with a grin Black Cats manager Regis le Bris when asked about who came up with the idea.

Defender Dan Ballard, who conceded an own goal in that previous encounter, was the sole Sunderland player to start in each of the games.

He explained how he desperately wanted to rectify the loss, stating: “It's indescribable. It was so painful for the players and for the fans. We felt we had failed them, so we're ecstatic with this win.”

“It served as motivation. We came in with more quality in this team, real leaders, we persevered, fought really hard and I thought we deserved the win.”

‘Derbies you have to win, it does not matter how’

Occupying seventh spot Sunderland are experiencing a outstanding return to the top flight post promotion via the play-offs last season.

The Black Cats have a tally of 26 points in 16 games, their best return 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 electric atmosphere for most of Sunday afternoon.

“In local rivalry matches, the result is everything, the performance secondary,” said captain Granit Xhaka. “This team is worthy of more respect – where we are in the league is incredible and we're working really hard.”

Sunderland are also unbeaten in their last 10 league games against Newcastle, their most extended period without defeat against the Magpies.

Newcastle's last league win over Sunderland was over a decade ago.

Manager Regis le Bris said he was “proud and happy” with the result.

“It was a derby and we were under pressure to deliver of our fans,” he continued. “This win is rightfully earned, we were mature and the lads were superb.”

“It's fantastic for the local community, the club, the fans. We knew before it was a unique game, but we have to turn the page as we have another hard game in Brighton in one week.”