Enzo Le Fée and Wilson Isidor save the day for Sunderland at Everton

Sunderland have made themselves quite at home at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Not content with knocking Everton out of the FA Cup here in January, Régis Le Bris’ side returned to end David Moyes’ slim prospects of European qualification with a commanding win that gives them an outside chance of reaching the Europa or Conference League.

Everton took the lead through Merlin Röhl’s first goal for the club but their dismal end to the season continued as the visitors ran riot in the second half. Brian Brobbey, Enzo Le Fée and substitute Wilson Isidor were all on target as Sunderland leapfrogged their hosts into ninth.

There was no fairytale ending for Séamus Coleman. The Everton captain received a rapturous reception when he appeared as a late substitute, two days after announcing this season would be his last as a player with the club, but was at fault as Isidor sealed Sunderland’s win. Everton’s winless run extends to six matches.

Hopes of European football, however remote, should have given an edge to the home performance but the game had a real end-of-season feel until Röhl opened the scoring with a deflected shot from 18 yards. Sunderland had been the better team until the hosts started to perform with some overdue urgency in the closing stages of the first half. Numerous unforced errors on both sides also contributed to a disjointed spectacle.

Moving tributes were paid by both sets of supporters to Bradley Lowery and Michael Jones. Lowery, the young Sunderland mascot who raised more than £1m for charity before his death in 2017, was remembered on what would have been his 15th birthday with a standing ovation as the entire stadium sang his name. Bradley’s parents, Gemma and Carl, were present as guests of Everton. A Sunderland fan and an Everton supporter also cycled to the game from the Stadium of Light to raise funds for the Bradley Lowery Foundation. There was also a warm ovation in the 26th minute on what would have been Jones’ 26th birthday. The Evertonian died while working on the construction of Hill Dickinson Stadium in 2023.

Quality was sorely lacking on the pitch. Röhl presented Beto with a good early chance only for the striker to squander the opportunity with a poor first touch. Sunderland lost central defender Omar Alderete to an early injury and demanded a red card for Tim Iroegbunam when he lunged into Reinildo. John Brooks rightly produced a yellow card.

Neither goalkeeper had been seriously tested before Röhl gave Everton the lead from their first sustained spell of pressure. The industrious midfielder, signed on loan from Freiburg last summer with an obligation to buy for £17.3m, retrieved an Iliman Ndiaye cross that had sailed through a crowded penalty area. Having cut back inside Röhl drilled a low shot towards Robin Roefs’ net and was rewarded with his first Everton goal when it sailed past the Sunderland defender via a huge deflection off Granit Xhaka.

Le Bris’ team responded impressively to the setback, controlling the second half and taking full advantage of a passive Everton performance. Nordi Mukiele and Trai Hume both tested Jordan Pickford quickly after the break before Sunderland levelled following a mistake by Jake O’Brien. The defender miscontrolled a long ball straight into the path of Le Fée, who released Brobbey into the Everton area with a first-time pass. The Sunderland striker held off the attentions of James Tarkowski before burying a finish under Pickford.

The visitors took the lead when substitutes Habib Diarra and Isidor combined to find Chemsdine Talbi, another second-half introduction, inside the area. Talbi had the presence of mind to square to Le Fée, who squeezed a shot past Pickford under little pressure from Ndiaye. Diarra and Isidor dissected Everton again to seal victory in stoppage time. Another low cross from the right by Diarra sailed across the home defence and was left by Coleman, who had arrived to a tumultuous reception for his final Everton appearance moments earlier. Isidor arrived unmarked behind him to bury a convincing finish and Moyes’ feint hopes of European football.