Graeme Murty's Sunderland U21s side put in an assured performance to exact revenge on Stoke City following the first-team's drubbing at the weekend. Alex Neil would enjoy a 5-1 win on his return to Wearside, but it was the Black Cats youngsters who would take home the three points this evening.
A second-half strike from Ellis Taylor added to Harry Gardiner's first-half brace, with an own goal denying the young forward a hattrick in their penultimate home game of the Premier League 2 Divsion 2 campaign. Murty was able to call on first-teamers Abdoullah Ba, Pierre Ekwah, Jewison Bennette and Isaac Lihadji, while Chris Rigg got another 90 minutes to his name.
The 4-1 win over the Potters sees Sunderland jump above arch rivals Newcastle in the table, into eighth on 17 points. The Under-21s are unable to qualify for the PL2 play-offs, but are intent on finishing the season well.
Here's a look at the key talking points from Sunderland's win over Stoke City.
First-team players shine
Last weekend was one to forget for Sunderland's first-team as Stoke City romped to a 5-1 win at the Stadium of Light. But, it was four of the Black Cats first-team players who would exact revenge this evening.
The aforementioned quartet - Ba, Bennette, Ekwah and Lihadji - were the Black Cats standout performers, with Ba turning in a man-of-the-match performance. The French midfielder showed his class on an evening where Murty's side turned in one of their best halves of the campaign.
They looked after the ball really well, especially in the opening 45 minutes, with one touch, two-touch football leaving Stoke chasing shadows for a lot of the evening.
Fellow Frenchman, Ekwah, turned in an assured display dictating the play alongside Ba, while Lihadji was dangerous all night under the watchful eye of Tony Mowbray. The Sunderland boss will be tempted to hand the 20-year-old former Lille winger an opportunity to impress in coming weeks, if he continues to perform like he did this evening.
Harry Gardiner brace that was almost a perfect hattrick
Sunderland's first-team may be lacking goals in the final third, but one youngster who isn't shy in front of goals is Harry Gardiner. The 19-year-old has five goals in his last four PL2 outings and is filling the void left by the injured Max Thompson.
There have been calls from Sunderland fans to see Gardiner handed an opportunity in the first-team and if he carries on his current rate of scoring, it might be hard to argue against that next season. He's not the most physical front-man which could see him found out at senior level, but at 19, he still has plenty time to develop and grow.
He was denied what was almost a perfect hattrick, with a Stoke defender turning in Sunderland's fourth goal of the evening - those in the ground originally crediting Gardiner. Speaking at full-time, boss Murty said the youngster was angry that he didn't get to take the match ball home, but that was a sign of a good striker.
First-team opportunities may be few and far between with Sunderland hoping to finish in the play-offs, but Gardiner has shown he can score at this level and the summer could be make or break with a solid off-season.
Clean sheet goes at the death
The young Black Cats have certainly looked to finish the season strong with just one defeat in their last six games, with Murty praising the hard work behind the scenes to get to this stage. However, the U21s boss will have been disappointed to see his side concede with the last kick of the game.
Fortunately for Sunderland, the four goal cushion left Stoke with a mountain to climb. Conceding late on has been an unwanted habit that's set in this season, with just one clean sheet in the league and just three games remaining.
Clean sheets are the next hurdle this young Sunderland side must work towards, with goals aplenty at the other end. They've certainly shown signs of improvement over the last few weeks and could in theory finish just outside of the PL2 Division 2 play-offs with wins in their last three games.
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