Enzo Le Fée's Redemption: Sunderland Earn Draw at Brentford

Enzo Le Fée buried his penalty, turned to the away end and roared. Same end, same player, same competition – but a very different story at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Last season, he walked off this pitch red‑faced after a disastrous panenka miss from 12 yards. This time, in the 82nd minute, he stepped up again and dragged Sunderland to a fully deserved 1-1 draw at Brentford, a late strike that felt as much like personal redemption as it did a point gained.

Sunderland dominate, VAR intervenes

For 45 minutes, Regis Le Bris’ side bullied Brentford. They were sharper, stronger, and far more direct. Brentford simply couldn’t live with the runners in behind or the aggression in midfield.

Sunderland thought they had their reward after eight minutes. Dan Ballard swept a composed finish into the bottom corner, only for a lengthy and fractious VAR check to rip it away. Kevin Danso, on debut, had strayed offside and was ruled to have blocked Caoimhin Kelleher’s line of sight. Goal gone, momentum checked, tempers frayed.

The visitors didn’t sulk. They rattled the frame of the goal instead. Enzo Le Fée, already pulling the strings, crashed a fierce effort against the post from 10 yards with Kelleher beaten. Brentford were hanging on.

Keith Andrews’ evening worsened when captain Nathan Collins was forced off inside 20 minutes after a clash with Noah Sadiki. Without their defensive leader, Brentford looked even more vulnerable.

Thomas Meunier then wasted another big opening, lashing a first-time effort straight at substitute goalkeeper Jannik Schuster when he had time and space to pick a corner.

Sunderland’s physicality and direct running – Meunier and Nilson Angulo constantly darting in behind – repeatedly stretched the home back line. Granit Xhaka anchored midfield with a familiar steel, snapping into duels and recycling possession with authority. Brentford staggered into half-time level, more through fortune than design.

Andrews rolls the dice, Janelt strikes

Something had to change, and Andrews knew it. He made three substitutions at the break, a bold reset that flipped the rhythm of the game.

Suddenly, the roles reversed. Sunderland, so assertive before the interval, found themselves pinned back. The out-balls dried up. The blue shirts that had poured forward were now trapped inside their own half.

The pressure told just before the hour.

Nordi Mukiele did well initially, adjusting his body to head away a dangerous cross. But his clearance dropped into a vacuum. No Sunderland player reacted. Vitaly Janelt did. He strode onto the loose ball, 15 yards out, and thumped a half-volley into the top corner. Clean, ruthless, and exactly what Brentford had been missing in the first half.

The Gtech finally had a home lead to cling to, and Brentford almost killed the contest. Keane Lewis-Potter should have done just that, only to miscue a volley into the ground and over the bar when well placed.

Anthony then had the ball in the net, briefly sending the home fans into celebration, but he was pulled up for stealing it from the hands of goalkeeper Robin Roefs. The whistle had gone, the chance had gone, and Sunderland were still alive.

Redemption from the spot

Roefs kept them in it again when he got down sharply to push away a Wilson Isidor free-kick, a save that would loom large as the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes.

Then came the flashpoint.

Isidor, on as a substitute, drove into the box and tangled with Lewis-Potter, whose hands were on his man as the forward went down. The contact was there; the decision, many inside the ground felt, was generous. The referee pointed to the spot.

All eyes went to Le Fée.

Same stadium. Same penalty spot. The memory of that failed panenka from January still clung to this fixture. This time there was no flourish, no indulgence. Just conviction. Le Fée sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, low and assured, and sprinted away in catharsis.

Sunderland had their point. Le Fée had his moment back.

Brentford, having wrestled control with Andrews’ half-time gamble and Janelt’s strike, were left to reflect on missed chances and a late call that went against them. Sunderland, after a dominant first half and a dogged finish, walked away knowing they can impose themselves on difficult away grounds – and that their playmaker has finally exorcised his ghosts at the Gtech.