Joe Nicholson reacts after Sunderland's resounding 5-0 win over Southampton

Joe Nicholson reacts after Sunderland's resounding 5-0 win over Southampton at the Stadium of Light.

Transcript

00:00 Outside the Stadium of Light where it's finished, Sunderland 5 Southampton 0.

00:07 I don't think anyone really saw that result coming before the game.

00:10 Southampton had taken 10 points from their first 4 games in the Championship.

00:14 Sunderland came in with some decent form after the win over Rotherham and a draw against Coventry last weekend.

00:20 But after a busy deadline day and a frantic last day of the transfer window, it was an excellent start from Tony Mowbray's side.

00:27 2-0 up inside 7 minutes. Goals from Jack Clark and Pierre Ekwa.

00:31 Ekwa then got a third for Sunderland just before half-time.

00:35 And then Bradley Back made it 4 shortly after the interval.

00:38 And Chris Rigg got his first league goal for Sunderland as well to make it 5 in stoppage time.

00:43 And it was just a really excellent performance from Sunderland all round.

00:46 Although they didn't have as much of the ball, Southampton had around 17% possession.

00:50 But Sunderland looked a threat going forward every time they attacked.

00:54 Clark was excellent down the left. Southampton just couldn't really handle him.

00:58 And Ekwa, with a man-of-the-match performance really.

01:00 He was making interceptions, winning back possession, scored 2 goals with some long-range efforts.

01:06 And a really top performance from him.

01:09 And then it was good for Dak to get his first Sunderland goal as well.

01:12 Joe Bellingham was leading the line at the front again today for Sunderland.

01:17 And they looked really comfortable even though Southampton had more of the ball.

01:21 Sunderland didn't really concede too many chances.

01:24 I can't remember goalkeeper Anthony Patterson having too many saves to make.

01:28 And it just showed the kind of young talent that is still in this Sunderland side.

01:32 Even though they've sold Ross Stewart, ironically, to Southampton on deadline day.

01:36 He wasn't involved today, obviously, as he's still recovering from that injury.

01:40 But it just shows the youth, the energy that Sunderland still have in their side.

01:43 Still without Patrick Roberts today as well.

01:45 Abdullah Bar started on the right for the second game in a row.

01:48 And he was involved in quite a few of the goals as well.

01:50 So the best performance that he's had this season.

01:53 So looking really positive for Sunderland after today's win.

01:57 And a huge victory over a side that were relegated from the Premier League last season.

02:01 So you can read more about today's result.

02:03 You can head over to the SAFC section of the Sunderland Echo website.

02:06 We've got post-match reaction and analysis.