Soccer
Regis Le Bris praises goalscorer Chemsdine Talbi as Sunderland beat Hull in cup
Regis Le Bris praised Chemsdine Talbi for his “fantastic” strike as Sunderland clinched a 1-0 Carabao Cup third-round win over Hull.
A lacklustre clash between the two Premier League clubs saw Talbi break the deadlock 71 minutes in at the Stadium of Light after the Black Cats suddenly broke from a Hull corner.
Substitute Thomas Meunier flicked the ball into Talbi, who surged past the Hull defence and coolly chipped the ball over goalkeeper Dillon Phillips into the bottom corner.
Talbi’s goal comes after he was the subject of reported transfer interest in recent weeks and Le Bris praised the winger for his efforts operating in a slightly different role.
Asked how pleased he was to keep Talbi, Le Bris said: “It’s really positive, we know this window can talk and we can have different conversations about the future. Now it’s done, it’s really clear.
“I was also interested by this new position because I feel he can play off the left and play off the right. He showed in the past he can be a good winger but also just under the striker.
“He has this space and this ability to exploit big spaces.
“Even after 50 or 60 minutes he stayed composed to finish. He had this first chance just at the end of first half and the second one was fantastic.”
Le Bris made 11 changes to his squad from their draw with Brentford and up next for the Black Cats is a Premier League clash against Arsenal on Saturday.
Speaking about the win, Le Bris added: “With 11 changes it’s clear that it’s not easy to find the references, we trained together but the reality is always the competition.
“We started well with good energy, after that we had not a bad period, but a bit more difficult and a bit less composed.
“The beginning of the second half was much better, we imposed our intensity and we scored, which was important.
“After that, the last part of the game they pushed a bit, but we stayed solid.”
Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic believes the match was an even contest and admitted their best chance came through Joe Gelhardt, who scuffed a shot over the crossbar in the late stages.
“I think we played a 50-50 game today. We had some good actions, Sunderland also had some good actions,” he said.
“Maybe this goal we conceded we had to be better organised. Long ball, but great finishing on the end.
“Maybe I think we had the best chance in the game tonight through Gelhardt, so maybe we feel we can score that.
“Unfortunately we didn’t and congratulations to Sunderland.”
