Amad Diallo electrifies Sunderland in win against 10-man Middlesbrough

When Tony Mowbray played for Middlesbrough his manager, Bruce Rioch, maintained the centre-half was the man he would want alongside him on a rocket flight to the moon. Almost four decades on, Sunderland supporters have increasing reason to believe Mowbray’s navigation skills could be about to transport them to new heights. Buoyed by a crowd of 42,584 his gifted, audaciously attack-minded, young team certainly proved far too good for Michael Carrick’s previously upwardly mobile Middlesbrough side.

Although Boro spent most of the second half with 10 men, a Sunderland team inspired by the Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo’s attacking excellence were already well on top by the time Dael Fry was sent off. Goals from Diallo and Ross Stewart lifted them to ninth, one point adrift of sixth-placed Boro who had won seven of their previous eight Championship games. What price this sweet passing pair meet again in the playoffs?

Mowbray has always believed in creating youth opportunities and, sure enough, his Sunderland starting XI featured eight players eligible for the under-23s. Among the brightest is 20-year-old Diallo. Carrick once coached Diallo at Old Trafford and the visiting manager must have feared the worst when an uncharacteristically slapdash pass from his goalkeeper, Zack Steffen, flew straight to his former protege on the edge of the area.

Steffen, on loan at Boro from Manchester City, prides himself on his footwork and is integral to Carrick’s build-from-the-back approach but the American was suddenly helpless. Small wonder he looked relief epitomised as Diallo dragged his shot wastefully wide.

Presumably anxious to atone for that miss, the Ivorian was heavily involved in missing or conjuring almost every subsequent chance and half chance that came Sunderland’s way, with the fallout from his cross prefacing the moment when Ross Stewart lashed the ball home. Stewart though had been offside and, once again, Steffen was reprieved.

Mowbray’s team were not merely playing some lovely stuff but dominating midfield. With Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke stretching Boro at every opportunity, they gave a visiting side accustomed to outpassing and moving opponents quite a shock. Eventually Matt Crooks re-asserted himself, creating an opening for Marcus Forss whose searing, angled, goalbound shot was quite brilliantly repelled by the otherwise underemployed Anthony Patterson.

Dael Fry leaves the field after being sent off. Photograph: Richard Lee/Shutterstock

Sunderland, though, could conceivably have been three or four up at the interval. One of their best chances arrived on the brink of half time when Steffen needed to be alert to keep Stewart’s half volley out after Fry’s defensive miscalculation left Boro in deep trouble.

It was not Fry’s day. Only four minutes into the second half the centre-half was sent off for hauling Stewart down as, with only Steffen to beat, he connected with Roberts’s fine through pass and closed in on goal.

As Fry trudged off, Stewart stepped forward to take the ensuing penalty. Although Steffen saved his first effort the striker made no mistake from the rebound and was soon celebrating his 11th goal in 14 games this season. Had Stewart not missed a sizeable chunk of the campaign through injury, Sunderland would surely be quite a bit higher in the table.

Sign up to Football Daily

Kick off your evenings with the Guardian’s take on the world of football

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

They might have doubled their advantage had Paddy McNair not blocked bravely to deny Édouard Michut. Another of Sunderland’s young talents, Michut is a 19-year-old midfielder on loan from Paris Saint-German. Like Diallo, he is flourishing under the guidance of a manager whose teams always endeavour to play attractive, passing football. It is no coincidence that clubs like Manchester United and PSG trust Mowbray to nurture some of their brightest young stars.

Refreshingly, Carrick adheres to similar footballing principles and, after watching an increasing amount of timewasting and gamesmanship at Premier League level in recent months, it was pleasing to see two sides attempting to keep the ball in play whenever possible.

Sunderland gained further reward for such positivity when Diallo scored their much-merited second goal, the forward combining superbly with his fellow man-of-the-match contender Roberts before beating Steffen courtesy of a fine left-footed finish.