Sunderland 1-0 AZ Alkmaar: Enzo Le Fee penalty sees Black Cats win Europa League opener

· 5 min read

Enzo Le Fee's penalty ensured Sunderland kicked off their Europa League adventure with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar at the Stadium of Light.

Wednesday's match was the Black Cats' first taste of European football in 53 years and they put in a dominant first-half display before being put under pressure after the restart when Kees Smit fired narrowly wide.

Le Fee then sent Sunderland ahead from the spot in the 66th minute to seal victory in their maiden Europa League outing. They return to European action next month away to Torreense.

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Regis Le Bris made four changes from Saturday's defeat to Arsenal as Omar Alderete, Trai Hume, Malick Fofana and Wilson Isidor all started and Alkmaar made two switches from their last Eredivisie match with Smit and Ayoub Oufkir lining up.

The key moments from the Stadium of Light

Granit Xhaka leads the way on Sunderland's Europa League debut

Image: Granit Xhaka leads the way on Sunderland's Europa League debut

7: SAVE! Big stop by Roefs with his legs to prevent an early AZ opener.

13: CLOSE! Le Fee's well-struck volley tests De Busser, with Isidor inches away from touching home the rebound.

15: WHAT A SAVE! Danso's curling effort from distance is turned behind by De Busser at full stretch.

25: POST! Le Fee curls an effort against the right-hand post with De Busser nowhere.

50: SO CLOSE! Smit does so well to evade his marker with a gorgeous turn, only to drill a low shot inches past the far post.

66: GOAL! Le Fee keeps his cool from the spot to send De Busser the wrong way after being tripped from behind in the box.

81: WHAT A SAVE! Roefs makes a trio of extraordinary close-range blocks, the last from a bewildered Meerdink.

86: BIG CHANCE! Pinto Batista blazes over from six yards out with the goal gaping after being set up by Hornkamp's gorgeous back heel.

90: WHAT A MISS! Brobbey lays the ball across the six-yard box, only for Angulo's close-range effort to be cleared off the line, before the striker sees his effort deflected behind for a corner.

What the managers said:

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris:

"They are a good team, I think we started well.

"The first half we imposed ideas. They were mobile, especially in the high press but we imposed this press progressively, created chances as well - crosses, shots, second balls and so on.

"Didn't score in the first half, so in the second half we scored and then the game was totally open after that. They created chances because they are really good on the ball.

"They played with freedom, took more risks and we had our chances in the second half. Finally it's three points.

"I think it's important we showed up to win. It was an important night for us, for the club, for the fans and at the end it's a good win.

"It's a good night so it's hard to rank.

"I will say we have the game against Coventry two years ago was really good, against Newcastle for the comeback of the derby. So this one is really good as well.

"We trust him [Le Fee], he's a good player. You can make mistakes because it's the game.

"If you step up you can succeed, you can fail, it's possible, but the quality of a player is to react, to stay resilient, to show up again and Enzo is this kind of player.

"He's a great player. Even if he struggled a bit at the beginning of the game it shows you are always just on the edge.

"When he's in a good place and I think he is - he still has room for improvement - he's a fantastic player. He can link the play, he can create, score, in defence really well with the squad as well."

AZ Alkmaar boss Leeroy Echteld:

"For us, it's a very good experience to play in these kind of circumstances. But I'm also very happy about my team because they were not so much impressed at the end.

"We can play, we have very young players but they can play against a very mature team like Sunderland with good players and support of the crowd.

"It makes me most proud that we show we can play. If we don't concede the penalty we have a big chance to win this game."

What the result means and next fixtures...

  • Sunderland fixtures
  • Europa League fixtures
  • Premier League fixtures