Luke O’Nien has made light of his disastrous first-half performance for Sunderland in their win over Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
The defender first conceded a penalty by dragging back Kieffer Moore in the box at 0-0, with Anthony Patterson saving the eventual effort from the spot from the Welshman.
O’Nien’s night went from bad to worse when he turned the ball into his own net at 1-0 to give the Blades an equaliser just moments after Eliezer Mayenda had put the hosts in front.
But a Wilson Isidor goal just three minutes later proved the winner in a dramatic opening 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light, with the game ending 2-1 in favour of Régis Le Bris’ side.
O’Nien issues funny message to Sunderland supporters
O’Nien has posted an image with Mayenda’s man of the match award from the win over Sheffield United, jokingly claiming that he had won it instead.
The centre-back has made light of his performance in the victory while claiming that he will only improve from the mistakes he made on Wednesday night.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I got MOTM after scoring an OG and giving away a pen,” wrote O’Nien via Instagram.
Jobe Bellingham sent a positive message to the Sunderland supporters after their victory against Sheffield United.
“All jokes aside, I love my teammates for getting me out the bin.
“Mistakes will only make me better, don’t you worry about that.
“Happy new year & congrats to the real MOTM [Eliezer Mayenda].
“Thanks for letting me borrow the trophy.”
Sunderland league position
| Championship standings 2024-25 (As of January 2nd) | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Leeds United | 25 | +29 | 52 |
| 2 | Burnley | 25 | +21 | 49 |
| 3 | Sheffield United | 25 | +18 | 49 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 25 | +16 | 47 |
| 5 | Middlesbrough | 25 | +11 | 40 |
| 6 | West Brom | 25 | +11 | 39 |
| *Sheffield United were deducted 2 points | ||||
Sunderland earned a valuable three points in their battle for a place inside the automatic promotion places on Wednesday evening.
The victory maintained their fourth-place position in the table, but the gap to the top spot is now just five points after Leeds United’s 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers.
Sunderland are now also just two points behind second-place Burnley after 25 games.
Next up for Le Bris’ team is a home clash against Portsmouth on 5 January.
Sunderland needed big Sheffield United win
Sunderland’s form at the end of 2024 had seen them fall behind a bit in the race for a top two spot, so a statement win to start 2025 was just what they needed.
O’Nien had a disastrous first half, but these things can happen and the team managed to overcome it so it didn’t hurt them too much.
That his second half was much stronger showed that it didn’t impact him, which is a big positive he can take away from the game.
Mayenda took his chance well to put Sunderland in the lead initially and deserved to actually win the man of the match award.
