Wilson Isidor celebrating his goal with team-mate Trai HumeRex Features

Wilson Isidor has scored three goals since his loan move from Zenit St Petersburg

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport England
At
MKM Stadium

Wilson Isidor's composed second-half strike was enough to send Sunderland back to the top of the Championship as they edged out Hull City in controversial fashion.

The French forward led a counter-attack from inside his own half for his third goal in four games as the Black Cats jumped a point above Burnley, who had won at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

But Hull were furious the 63rd-minute strike was allowed to stand after they felt referee Robert Madley got in the way of Marvin Mehlem, causing the German to lose the ball that led to the swift Sunderland break.

Defender Alfie Jones and assistant head coach Julian Hubner were booked for their protests, while head coach Tim Walter was shown a yellow card for approaching the referee at full-time to vent his anger.

Walter's third booking of the season means he will now serve a one-game touchline ban and miss Wednesday's home meeting with second-placed Burnley.

The Tigers, who hit the woodwork through Chris Bedia with the score goalless, remain in 14th after a second consecutive loss.

Both sides were relegated from the Premier League seven years ago and in that time, each dropped into League One but has climbed back to this level.

Ownerships have changed, managers have come and gone but the ambition to return to the top flight is as strong as ever.

They have each started this campaign with bosses unknown to many, but while German Walter has had a mixed start with Hull, Frenchman Regis le Bris has hit the ground running at Sunderland.

That showed, albeit in a very low key first half, as the Black Cats went closer to scoring, with Patrick Roberts having a cross-shot saved by Ivor Pandur's foot and Jobe Bellingham's 20-yard low strike not far past the post.

Isidor proves his worth

But Hull were quicker out of the blocks after the break and unlucky not to take the lead when Ivory Coast striker Bedia found a pocket of space in the area and rattled the angle of post and bar with a fierce effort.

However, the game's pivotal moment arrived less than 10 minutes later.

The move came from a Tigers corner, which they had worked short and played back towards Mehlem on the edge of the Sunderland area.

It appeared the referee may have hindered his view when receiving the ball, but midfielder Mehlem dawdled and was robbed by Dan Neil who sent Isidor one on one against last man Cody Drameh.

The striker showed pace and strength to shrug off the Hull defender, before lifting it delicately over Pandur once inside the area.

It was a third goal in his last four games and his loan move from Russian side Zenit appears to have given Sunderland that cutting edge up front they have desperately wanted.

Hull did not fashion any chances of note to force an equaliser as Sunderland held on for a seventh win in their opening 10 games.

Both sides are back in action on Wednesday as Hull face another tough test against Burnley, while Sunderland visit Luton Town.

'Referee apologised' - manager reaction

Hull City head coach Tim Walter told BBC Radio Humberside:

"I went to the referee's room and they apologised for the situation but for me it's frustrating because he should know how we play and find another position at a set-piece.

"The referee invited me in to apologise but it doesn't help me.

"But we had a lot of situations in the first half and a lot of counter situations but our last decision wasn't the best.

"We created many chances but we weren't clinical enough and maybe lost our heads in the last five minutes.

"We had more courage in the second half and we showed we can maybe be on the same page as them."

Sunderland head coach Regis le Bris:

"It's difficult to win away, especially at Hull. In the first half, we dominated the ball but failed to break the final third.

"The scenario in the second half was different, they kept the ball and it was not easy to deal with the way they build up the game and we did well.

"The momentum was with them and they had a big chance to score and they didn't. We were prepared to use our counter attacks as we had that strength and Wilson made the difference."

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