Sunderland 2-1 Torreense was the final scoreline after a wild night in Portugal, with Noah Sadiki striking in the third minute of stoppage time to cap a come-from-behind victory that keeps the Black Cats perfect through two games in the Europa League. Jules Ahoka’s second-half header canceled out Volnei Feltes’ stunning opener for the Portuguese second-division side, before substitute Granit Xhaka teed up Sadiki for a dramatic late winner.
It wasn’t pretty, and for long stretches it looked like it might not even be enough — but Sunderland found a way. Régis Le Bris’ side came from behind to beat Torreense 2-1 on Thursday night, surviving a genuine scare on their first European away trip in 53 years to make it two wins from two in this season’s Europa League.
Torreense Stun Sunderland With a Wonderstrike
Sunderland controlled large spells of the opening half without ever truly threatening, and they were made to pay for it in the 37th minute. Torreense centre-back Volnei Feltes cut inside from 20 yards and curled a sensational strike into the top corner, sending the home crowd into raptures and leaving Sunderland needing an away-goal response of their own.
The warning signs had been there. Earlier in the half, Timur Tuterov had a close-range header chalked off following a VAR review for a soft foul, after Luke O’Nien picked him out with a long throw. Sunderland didn’t register a shot on target until the 57th minute — a sluggish, uncharacteristically flat performance from a side that had opened its European campaign in confident fashion.
Le Bris’s Substitutes Change the Complexion of the Game
With his side chasing the game, Le Bris turned to his bench — and it transformed the match. Having made seven changes to his starting lineup, the Sunderland manager brought on Granit Xhaka, Enzo Le Fée, Nordi Mukiele and Reinildo in a double-barreled reshuffle designed to inject fresh legs and sharper decision-making into a stagnant Sunderland attack.
The impact was almost immediate. In the 67th minute, Mukiele’s clever delivery found Jules Ahoka, who guided a well-placed header beyond goalkeeper Maarten Paes and into the bottom corner for his first goal for the club. Xhaka, meanwhile, was growing into the game as Sunderland’s chief creative outlet — he later picked out Ahoka again with a clear sight of goal, only for Paes to produce a smart save to keep the scores level.
Sunderland also had a penalty appeal waved away following a VAR check as they pushed for a winner, with Nilson Angulo forcing a save from a header earlier in the match and Omar Alderete unable to convert the rebound.
Sadiki’s Stoppage-Time Drama Seals It
Sunderland’s pressure finally told deep into stoppage time. In the third minute of added time, Xhaka touched the ball down inside the area for Noah Sadiki, who drilled a powerful half-volley into the net to send the travelling Sunderland supporters into delirium. Sadiki wheeled away to celebrate with the away end as his teammates mobbed him, capping off a frantic, momentum-swinging finish to the match.
Across those closing stages, Xhaka’s fingerprints were all over Sunderland’s revival — first setting up Ahoka’s near-miss, then delivering the decisive touch for Sadiki’s winner, underlining exactly why Le Bris turned to him when his side needed a spark.
What It Means
The win keeps Sunderland top of their Europa League group with maximum points from two matches, a remarkable return for a club making its first appearance in European competition in more than half a century. It also hands Le Bris a selection headache heading into the coming weeks: his heavily rotated starting lineup struggled for large periods against Torreense, while the experienced quartet introduced from the bench — Xhaka, Le Fée, Mukiele and Reinildo — were directly involved in both goals.
That balance between squad rotation and match-winning experience is likely to shape how Le Bris approaches his next European selection, even as attention now turns back to the Premier League, where Sunderland face Bournemouth this weekend.
