Isidor hit the post, then scored four minutes later, and Fulham have lost both their games
Wilson Isidor came off the bench to win it for Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, leaving Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham without a point after two matches.
Aug 31, 2026
Wilson Isidor had already missed the chance of the afternoon. Enzo Le Fée rolled a low ball across the six-yard box in the 71st minute, Isidor got there, and the ball came back off the post. Four minutes later Habib Diarra put another one through the same area, Bernd Leno came for it and did not get it, and Isidor had an empty net to roll it into. Sunderland 1, Fulham 0, and both substitutes had been on the pitch for less than half an hour.
Sunderland have their first points, Fulham still have none
The Stadium of Light saw a game neither side controlled for long. Fulham had the better of the first hour without doing anything with it. Joshua King had a chance in the 26th minute and Rodrigo Muniz another in the 57th, and Régis Le Bris’s defence, with Nordi Mukiele in front of goalkeeper Robin Roefs, kept both out.
Sunderland lost their opening game at Ipswich, so this was a first win and a first three points. Le Bris talked afterwards about rebuilding the Stadium of Light as somewhere visiting teams do not enjoy going. “It feeds the confidence, especially at home,” he said. “We want to rebuild our fortress, but it is a process.”
Two games, two defeats, and a manager who did not hide from it
Alvaro Arbeloa took over at Fulham this summer and has lost both his league games in charge. The opener went 3-2 to Chelsea, a match Fulham lost after conceding inside the first minute and clawing their way back through Joshua King and a headed debut goal from Gonzalo García. On Sunday there was no clawing back at all.
“We didn’t win any duels. No second balls,” Arbeloa said. “We were not at our level today.” Managers say versions of this most weeks. What makes it awkward is the summer Fulham have had. They paid Real Madrid around £34 million for García, a fee that matches their transfer record, and took César Palacios from the same club. Arbeloa arrived from the Bernabeu too, where he had spent half a season as a first-team coach. Two games into all that, they have no points.
Where this leaves both of them
Two matches is nothing. Fulham lost to a Chelsea side that has started the season looking like a problem for everybody, then lost away at a ground that was loud all afternoon. Neither result is a verdict. What it does mean is that Arbeloa is two games into the job with nothing next to his name. Fulham are at home to Crystal Palace on 5 September, which is where a first point is supposed to come from.
Sunderland will take the win in the manner it arrived. Isidor started on the bench, came on, hit the post, and scored anyway. Le Bris changed the game with his substitutions and it worked, which is not something a manager gets to say every week. Brentford away is next for them, on the same afternoon.