Team spirit certainly the shining light in thrilling victory

Sunderland never do things the easy way and while that was true again against Chelsea, they found a way to come out on top in an absolute thriller.

Thematchhad everything, it was a rollercoaster. The fans were immense and when you witness the scenes during and after the game, it’s almost impossible to believe we went into it with only Aston Villa boasting a worse home record.

Chelsea made a statement when they picked a starting XI with all their big guns included. This wasn’t a team coasting to the end of the season, they found their fighting spirit earlier in the week against Spurs and brought it to Wearside, so Sunderland’s win shouldn’t be devalued in any way.

To see the team pick themselves off the floor not once, but twice, then go on and knock out Chelsea shows the character and sheer determination of the players who sweated blood for the shirt and every single fan recognised that.

However, Sunderland wouldn’t have beaten Chelsea on effort alone. They played good football and all three goals were special, especially Wahbi Khazri’s which was a real work of art.

Everyone contributed, from Vito Mannone at the back – who kept us in the gamewhen2-1down–to match-winner Jermain Defoe and in between, the team spirit shone through.

When the team sheets came out before the game, I thought the only way we could win would be a 1-0 backs-to-the-wall performance, but the 3-2 we got was the exact opposite and the manner of the victory just made it even sweeter.

Saturday’s win will go down in folklore and it was the sort of game that when you left the stadium, made you feel that you couldn’t wait to get back to the next one.