Sunderland hold on to beat Brentford 3-2 after three goals in 13 minutes

Sunderland scored three goals in 13 minutes and needed every one of them. Talbi opened the scoring in the 26th minute, Tutierov added a second in the 29th from Bi's assist, and Fofana made it three in the 39th, also assisted by Bi. Wilson pulled one back for Brentford in the 42nd from Janelt's pass, and the score stood at 3-1 at half-time.

Brentford dominated the numbers without closing the gap on the scoreboard. They had 67 per cent of possession to Sunderland's 33, 16 shots to 7, and completed 491 of 589 passes at 83.4 per cent accuracy against Sunderland's 197 of 303 at 65.0 per cent. They also sent in 29 crosses to Sunderland's 6 and won 5 corners to none.

Sunderland's answer was almost entirely defensive after their early burst: 38 clearances to Brentford's 15, 16 tackles to 9, and 58 duels won to 46. Igor Thiago scored for Brentford in the fourth minute of stoppage time, from Jensen's assist, to make it 3-2, but there was no time left to find a third.

Régis Le Bris made all five of his substitutions across the match, Rigg on at half-time and four more arriving between the 60th and 94th minutes. Keith Andrews made his five between the 59th and 71st minutes, three of them together in the 59th: Hickey, Jensen and Ouattara. Three Brentford players were booked, Schade, Janelt and Schuster, all between the 74th and 85th minutes; Rigg was Sunderland's only yellow card, in the 89th.

Attendance was 24,305 at the Stadium of Light, with Gavin Ward the referee. Before this game Sunderland had won one of their five listed matches, drawing two and losing two, while Brentford had won two of their five, drawn two and lost one, including a 1-2 home defeat to Liverpool.

Three meetings are listed here: a 1-1 draw at Brentford in September 2026, a 3-0 win for Brentford at home in January 2026, and a 2-1 win for Sunderland at home in August 2025. Each club has won one, with one draw.