After a poor debut to say the least, all eyes were on Jan Kirchhoff last night and Sam Allardyce's decision to play the new signing in midfield against title-chasing Manchester City.
Midfield move pays off
The arrival of Lamine Kone meant Kirchhoff could be given a role higher up the pitch and he put in a man of the match performance despite Sunderland going down 1-0 to a Sergio Aguero goal.
Allardyce was quick to praise the German last night claiming he has not seen someone play 'that well' in midfield this season for the Black Cats. The 61-year-old went on to say Sunderland were 'dominating' because of Kirchhoff's quality of passing'.
Allardyce conceded that Kirchhoff did well to last the whole 90 minutes due to his lack of match fitness.
Kone also praised
Kirchhoff wasn't the only player starting his first game for Sunderland last night. Kone also made his first appearance since switching from French outfit Lorient. Kone was also praised by Allardyce after the defeat.
Allardyce stated fans will 'love' Kone and joked that the fact Kone last night floored Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure would only improve his status on Wearside.
Big Sam said he hoped the club had 'two solid defenders' on their hands.
Perilous position
Despite Sunderland playing well last night, they came away from the match with nothing to show for it. Their failure to beat City 'Keeper Joe Hart means they remain 19th in the table.
A Newcastle United win against Everton would leave Sunderland five points from safety with 14 games remaining.
Allardyce said if his players continued to play with that level of performance, he was confident a more 'consistent run of results' would follow but then stated 'who knows' whether it will be enough to get the club out of trouble.