The sight of Ross Stewart completing his first full 90 minutes since August must have topped many Sunderland fans' Christmas wishlists. But his strikepartner Ellis Simms needed only a ten-minute cameo against Blackburn Rovers to deliver the gift that stole the show at the Stadium of Light.
After three-and-a-half months on the sidelines with a thigh injury, top scorer Stewart had given a glimpse of what the Black Cats had missed when he made his long-awaited comeback as a substitute and scored at Hull City last weekend. And he was included from the start against Rovers, with Simms dropping to the bench to make way.
Stewart was in the thick of the action, scoring an unlucky own-goal inside the opening 20 minutes before making amends almost immediately by winning and converting a penalty at the other end of the pitch after he had been fouled by John Buckley. But when Tony Mowbray gambled late in the game by throwing on Simms to partner Stewart and switching shape to 3-5-2, it was the on-loan Everton man who wrote the headlines as he kept his head to prod home the winning goal in injury-time.
