Sunderland got their early Championship season back on track with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough, following a surprising defeat to Plymouth Argyle in their previous match.
This win brings Régis Le Bris’s Black Cats to five league victories out of six, with their next challenge being a trip to face Tom Cleverley’s Watford in the second tier.
The popular Frenchman now occupying the Stadium of Light dug-out will continue to keep picking Romaine Mundle and Eliezer Mayenda in the games to come, having managed to get a tune out of the raw attacking pair since his arrival to England, when other Black Cats bosses hadn’t.
Mundle & Mayenda’s form this season
Neither Mundle nor Mayenda were key figures for Sunderland last season, with Mayenda not scoring a single goal while serving as a reserve, and Mundle making only five league starts after joining in January from Standard Liège.
Now, however, they are both making a significant impact in the Championship, combining for seven goals and assists. This includes Mundle’s powerful strike against Portsmouth last month, set up by his attacking teammate.
Both standout performers took a backseat last match against Michael Carrick’s Boro, however, as 17-year-old Chris Rigg basked in the limelight with a clever finish to win the even clash by a solitary goal.
But, it’s very unlikely that either will be dropped for the trip to Vicarage Road this coming weekend with the players in question yet to be absent from a league clash so far this campaign.
Whilst Le Bris will be delighted with the continued efforts of his exciting duo up top, Sunderland are currently being kept off the top spot in the division courtesy of a former youth product’s exploits for West Bromwich Albion.
Maja’s form for West Brom
Josh Maja will be remembered fondly at the Stadium of Light as a promising youngster who showed off his ability to be an ice-cold finisher when chucked into the first team.
During Sunderland’s struggles in League One, the former Black Cats player stood out as a beacon of hope. He scored an impressive 15 goals in 24 matches during the 2018/19 season, leading to a lucrative £3.5 million transfer to French side Bordeaux.
| Maja in 2024/25 | |
|---|---|
| Games played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 6 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Shots per game | 2.8 |
| Scoring frequency | 81 mins |
| Goal conversion % | 35% |
| Big chances missed | 4 |
| Stats by Sofascore | |
Sunderland must regret losing the now 25-year-old, especially considering his impressive performance for West Brom this season, where he has scored six goals in as many games as Corberan’s key striker.
Standing at 5 feet 11 inches, he is outpacing both Mundle and Mayenda, who have combined for five league goals. The former Bordeaux player is proving to be a fantastic find for the promotion-chasing Baggies, who secured him on a free transfer last year.
While strikers typically go through dry spells during a long league season, Le Bris is hoping Maja’s current scoring streak will come to an end soon, potentially affecting West Brom’s position at the top of the table. For now, though, it seems everything Maja touches turns to gold as Sunderland and West Brom vie for early dominance in the Championship.
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