Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris reveals Elland Road theory after Leeds United's late, late win

The Black Cats went in at the break a goal to the good thanks to Wilson Isidor's strike. The forward held off Ethan Ampadu to roll the ball in off Illan Meslier's far post and Sunderland's defensive structure kept the hosts largely at bay.

Though Sunderland were under the cosh for much of the second half they held out until 78 minutes when substitutes Joe Rothwell and Pascal Struijk combined for a set-piece equaliser. And with Elland Road roaring the home side on in stoppage time, Rothwell's cross was nodded in by Struijk to create a 10-point gap between the two sides. The synergy between the crowd and the Leeds team proved too much, Le Bris felt.

"I thought our first half was good, we played good football both in and out of possession," he said. "I think it was fair for us to score the goal and to be leading at half-time. I thought the second half was more difficult because they built strong momentum and we didn't find the solution to break their dynamic. With the crowd, the energy of the stadium - it was always increasing and even with our subs we didn't find the solution to change this energy."

Le Bris insisted he was not too disappointed, despite coming so close to a point and having led the game for so long only to lose it.

"I think for me I am stable right now," he said. "We played a good first half. Obviously we played a strong team and we have to admit that we can be overwhelmed sometimes by their strength, because they were good. We're still a young team, learning with different experiences like that. I'm sure for that it will be a positive in the future. They are disappointed, they want to win, they want to be promoted so still like that after a defeat."