Lee Johnson liked what he saw from Sunderland in win over Wigan

Posted Sunday, August 08, 2021 by PA

Lee Johnson thinks Sunderland have shown what they are made of by starting the season with a much-needed victory over Wigan in front of more than 30,000 at the Stadium of Light.

However, the Black Cats head coach insists there is still more to come despite seeing encouraging signs as his side come from behind to beat an ambitious Latics side 2-1 in Sky Bet League One.

Wigan took the lead on 15 minutes with a well-worked move down the right-hand side. Tendayi Darikwa drove down the right and teed up Will Keane on the edge of the box. Although his touch and volley struck the post, Gwion Edwards beat the offside trap to fire home into the top corner.

Sunderland responded two minutes later when Ross Stewart was felled in the box after a driving run. Aiden McGeady was on hand to send goalkeeper Ben Amos the wrong way and fire into the bottom left-hand corner from the penalty spot.

Johnson’s side took the lead eight minutes into the second half after Stewart glanced a header home from Elliot Embleton’s corner.

The manager said: “It was difficult and we won’t have many more difficult than that – and especially for an opening day.

“Both teams really went for it, I thought it was end to end. The first game of the season, (in) the last 15-20 (minutes), people are always going to get a little bit tired, there’s a lot of emotion as well and you can see the fatigue in the legs. But we saw it out well.

“We played some wonderful football at times, the way we played through the lines and switched the play, and they’re a good side. So I have to give my players a lot of credit.

“It was a definite penalty, I think. Ross got caught and his boot came off because of the contact.

“It’s very good from Aiden because in that moment, there’s 90 seconds of real up and down emotion, so to slot it away so calmly was really nice for us.

“I loved it. Coupled with the win, I really enjoyed it. I think that there were signs of real quality and the way we want to play, and I think the fans really aided us in that.”

Wigan, who fielded summer signings from Sunderland Max Power and Charlie Wyke in their ranks, failed to carve out a second-half chance and that frustrated manager Leam Richardson.

The Wigan boss has overseen plenty of changes so he expects things to take time to settle down.

He said: “I thought we battled well. I thought we started the game good. I thought we imposed ourselves quite quickly. We were worthy when we went in front and then I think the penalty turned the game.

“I thought they built on that momentum so I thought they were worthy winners in the end.

“It was eight or nine debutants and I think it showed in some parts but you can see they come together quickly. In other parts as well, they’ve been in a matter of weeks.

“Everybody knows that we’re a football club we are building slowly and I think you could see that a little bit today.

“There’s a lot of people at the football club now who work very hard and will continue to work very hard to be in that place where we think we should be.”

But Richardson is adamant that nobody will be overreacting to the defeat on Wearside.

He added: “I thought it was a fantastic game. Wigan, Sunderland, first game of the season in League One. I don’t think people ever thought that would happen with 30 odd thousand fans.

“It was a fantastic home support and a fantastic travelling away support as well.

“It was disappointing that we fell on the wrong side of the result but we’re so appreciative of the fans’ time and it’s not cheap nowadays to bring your children to football and travel around the country. So I think it’s great to have them back.”