Sunderland Stage Famous Newcastle Squad Picture After Crucial Derby Win.

New leadership and an almost completely different team – but those involved at Sunderland had a long memory.

Back in 2024, after a dominant Newcastle performance at the Stadium of Light in an FA Cup tie, the Geordies commemorated the moment with a group photo on the pitch.

On this occasion, the roles were flipped.

Nick Woltemade's unfortunate deflection proved decisive to deliver Sunderland a memorable win over their rivals in the first Premier League Tyne-Wear derby since 2016 – prompting the hosts to mimic Newcastle's post-match snapshot at full-time.

“Consistently original, imaginative, versatile,” said with a grin Black Cats manager Regis le Bris when pressed about who came up with the photograph.

Defender Dan Ballard, who was unfortunate to score an own goal in that previous encounter, was the only Sunderland player to feature from the beginning in the two games.

He disclosed how he desperately wanted to rectify the loss, stating: “You cannot describe [the feeling]. It was agonizing for the players and for the fans. We felt we had let them down, so we're ecstatic with this win.”

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

‘Local clashes are must-wins, by any means necessary’

Seventh-placed Sunderland are having a excellent return to the top flight following 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 had an incredible atmosphere for most of Sunday afternoon.

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

Sunderland are also undefeated in their last 10 league games against Newcastle, their best-ever streak 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 performance.

“It was a derby and we were expected [to win] of our fans,” he stated. “This win is rightfully earned, we were composed and the lads were superb.”

“It's good for the region, the club, the fans. We knew before it was a special game, but we have to reset quickly as we have another hard game in Brighton in one week.”