Le Fée’s penalty has beaten Chelsea and lifted Sunderland off the bottom
Sunderland beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, three days after losing at home to Dinamo Zagreb, and Xabi Alonso’s side drop out of the top four.
Nov 8, 2026
Sunderland had won one Premier League game all season and lost at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday. On Sunday they beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Stadium of Light, and they are off the bottom of the table.
Enzo Le Fée scored the only goal from the penalty spot after 36 minutes. Brian Brobbey, who had given Chelsea’s centre-backs a miserable first half, spun Levi Colwill and went down, and the referee pointed to the spot. Le Fée sent Mike Penders the wrong way.
Brobbey against Colwill
Chelsea arrived fourth and left fifth. Xabi Alonso’s side had most of the ball in the first half and did very little with it. Brobbey was the most dangerous player on the pitch long before the penalty. He volleyed Chemsdine Talbi’s cross wide early on, then broke away from Colwill inside his own half before Wesley Fofana forced him wide, and the shot flew over.
The penalty itself was not clear-cut. Both players had hold of each other’s shirt, and Chelsea’s own report said there was not a lot in it. Chelsea also felt hard done by earlier, when Cole Palmer was brought down by Luke O’Nien on the edge of the box. No penalty was given, and VAR did not overturn it.
Alonso took Colwill off at half-time and sent on Estêvão, with Moisés Caicedo dropping into defence. It made little difference. Sunderland led at half-time and then defended the lead. They had the clearest chance after the break, when Penders made a brave save from substitute Wilson Isidor with about 15 minutes left. Chelsea’s best effort was a Danny Welbeck header over the bar in stoppage time.
A week Le Bris needed to end well
Sunderland did all of this without their captain. Granit Xhaka limped off inside the first four minutes and was replaced by Jules Ahoka. Omar Alderete was also missing, suspended after his red card in the 3-1 defeat at Coventry eight days earlier.
That loss at Coventry and the 2-0 home defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League had left Régis Le Bris under real pressure. This win lifts Sunderland to 18th on eight points, one above Crystal Palace, who lost 3-1 to Liverpool, and Manchester United. There is a long way to go, and Le Bris now has a fortnight of international football with his side off the bottom.
For Chelsea it is a fourth league defeat of the season. They are fifth on 16 points, two behind Liverpool, and they host Leeds when the league returns on 21 November.