'Xhaka has been sensational'published at 21:50 GMT 3 November
Sunderland 1-1 Everton
Don Goodman
Former Sunderland striker on Sky Sports
Granit Xhaka has simply been sensational. He's like a fine wine - he gets better with age.
At a glance
Ndiaye puts Everton ahead with solo goal but Toffees outplayed most of game
Xhaka scores first Premier League goal for Sunderland equaliser
Point takes Sunderland back into top four, Everton are 14th
Granit Xhaka scored his first Sunderland goal as the Black Cats came from behind to draw with Everton and move up to fourth place in the Premier League.
Everton started brightly and led through Iliman Ndiaye's fine solo goal - picking the ball up on the right before beating several defenders and leaving the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
The Toffees were well on top, with Jack Grealish hitting the post, until Thierno Barry missed a sitter from three yards out in the 28th minute - and suddenly everything changed.
Sunderland took control of the game.
Xhaka scored their equaliser early in the second half with a deflected strike from 20 yards out after Enzo le Fee's effort was blocked.
The Black Cats had the game's next 16 shots after that Barry miss - but could not find a winner.
Sunderland are back in the Champions League places, more than a quarter of the way through the season, while Everton move above Fulham into 14th.
'It's easy with good players' - Regis le Bris praises midfield duo
Former Arsenal captain Xhaka has been a sensational summer signing for Sunderland from Bayer Leverkusen, leading the way in a whole list of statistics for the team.
And now he has a goal to add to that after another hugely impressive performance.
But this was a team effort and they were unlucky not to win, which would have taken them second.
It was a remarkable in-game turnaround as they were being completely overrun, losing their heads and could have been behind by more with 30 minutes on the clock.
But between the 28th and 85th minutes they had all 16 shots.
Not many were clear-cut efforts admittedly - there were few moments where you felt they had to score - but they have now come from losing positions to grab eight points this season.
Everton should have 'put game away' - David Moyes
Everton have two strikers - with a combined one goal.
Beto - who has that goal - usually starts, and Barry usually comes on. This time they switched it around with Barry starting before being replaced by Beto early in the second half.
It did not make a difference.
And Barry, a £27m summer signing from Villarreal, really should have got his first goal in English football when Grealish picked him out with a cross which he skied over from inside the six-yard box.
Everton could have been two or three goals clear by then - with Grealish having hit the post earlier.
After that Barry miss it all just stopped. Their only other chance came in the closing moments through Vitalii Mykolenko.
Everton, managed by ex-Black Cats boss David Moyes, now have one win in their past eight matches.
Sunderland host leaders Arsenal on Saturday at 17:30 GMT. A win would narrow the gap to four points.
Everton are at home to Fulham, who are one place behind them, at 15:00 that day.
Then there is the third international break of the season.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 25 |
| |
| 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 19 |
| |
| 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 18 |
| |
| 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
| |
| 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 18 |
| |
| 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| |
| 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 17 |
| |
| 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 17 |
| |
| 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 16 |
| |
| 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 15 |
| |
| 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 15 |
| |
| 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 13 |
| |
| 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 12 |
| |
| 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 12 |
| |
| 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 11 |
| |
| 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 11 |
| |
| 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 19 | -7 | 10 |
| |
| 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 7 |
| |
| 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 | -12 | 6 |
| |
| 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 22 | -15 | 2 |
|
Manager: Régis Le Bris
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Manager: David Moyes
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Régis Le Bris
Formation: 3 - 4 - 3
Manager: David Moyes
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Premier League
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
Sunderland lost both Premier League meetings with Everton the last time they faced in 2016-17, last losing more consecutively against the Toffees between November 2007 and May 2009 (4).
Having won four consecutive Premier League games at the Stadium of Light between August 2002 and May 2009, Everton won just two of their last eight visits to Sunderland (D4 L2). However, one of these was in their most recent visit in September 2016 (3-0).
Everton lost 1-0 at Leeds in their opening Premier League match this season. They last lost consecutive league games against promoted sides in the 2021-22 campaign, losing three in a row against Watford, Brentford and Norwich.
Sunderland have 17 points from nine Premier League games this season, their best record at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1999-00 (also 17). The Black Cats won their 10th game back then, 4-0 at Bradford City.
Sunderland have won five of their nine Premier League games so far in 2025-26 (D2 L2), just one fewer than they managed in the entirety of their last top-flight campaign in 2016-17 (W6 D6 L26). The Black Cats are looking to win three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since May 2014 (a run of four).
Everton have lost 2-0 against Man City and 3-0 against Tottenham in their last two Premier League games. They’ve not lost three in a row under David Moyes since October 2011, while they last did so without scoring under the Scot in October 2005 (6 in a row).
Coming into this weekend’s games, no side has won more points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than Sunderland (7). It’s already one more than the Black Cats earned from behind in their last top-flight campaign of 2016-17 (6).
Wilson Isidor is Sunderland’s top scorer in the Premier League this season (4 goals in 9 games), with no other player netting more than once for the Black Cats. Only four players have reached five Premier League goals in 10 or fewer appearances for Sunderland – Steven Fletcher (4), Kevin Phillips (6), Darren Bent (6) and Asamoah Gyan (10).
Only Chris Richards (10) has made more successful long throws into the box than Nordi Mukiele this season (8), with Mukiele’s long throw eventually leading to Sunderland’s equaliser at Chelsea last time out.
Everton winger Jack Grealish has won more fouls (28) and created more chances from open play (19) than any other player in the Premier League this season.