A first league double over Middlesbrough in 63 years, a first league win at the Riverside in 20 years and a player who didn’t touch the ball in the opening 30 minutes of a match. Records aplenty were broken as Sunderland beat Middlesbrough in a thrilling North East clash that could have gone either way.

One man in white stood out as head and shoulders above the rest. Enzo Le Fee was truly outstanding and the astonishing thing is, his head coach Regis Le Bris believes he is still only playing at 70 per cent match fitness. I’m sure Middlesbrough’s Luke Ayling would shy away from playing against a 30 per cent more effective Le Fee after he was run ragged by him.

Some of the touches produced on his 25th birthday were sublime. His passing was sharp and incisive. He was the catalyst for two goals, the first setting up Wilson Isidor with a superb through ball and the second when he showed artistry and skill to beat Ayling for the umpteenth time and centre for Boro’s Ryan Giles to ram into his own net from 12 yards.

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What I loved about Le Fee was his quiet celebration at the end, standing in the background, applauding the fans, but staying grounded. He had let his sparkling performance do the talking.

In contrast Isidor – who wasn’t on the pitch for the winning goal – careered across to the supporters at the end to relive his goal celebration, where he had hoisted a corner flag high into the air. This time he removed his shirt and wrapped it around the flag. He milked the applause for all it was worth and the fans loved him for it.

However, apart from his goal – coolly taken though it was – Isidor was a peripheral figure. He didn’t anticipate Patrick Roberts’ early ball into the box when he might have put Sunderland ahead prior to Boro going in front. He lazily strayed offside twice when not looking across the line. And remarkably, he didn’t touch the ball until the 31st minute while he managed it no more than twice more during the remainder of the first half.

In that respect you have to hand it to TV’s advanced technology because producing a heat map of Isidor’s first 45 minutes was like trying to locate pieces of hot coal in Antarctica.

It’s fair to say Isidor held the corner flag for longer than he was in possession of the ball. He also took the old adage that, ‘a centre-forward can do nothing as long as he scores’ to a new level. But he did score. His 10th of the season. And few could begrudge him his craving for attention. Especially after his tortured look following his double penalty miss at Burnley. He has shown tremendous character to bounce back from that and deserves credit. His passion is there for all to see and he clearly loves the club.

Others too played their part. Dan Neil was tremendous, and Luke O’Nien, although sloppy in giving away the second goal, was calm and measured throughout alongside Chris Mepham, who defended superbly again. It was O’Nien’s awareness to cut out a pass and spread the ball to Le Fee which led to Sunderland’s winning moment.

But it was Le Fee who took the honour of star man and we were all left to reflect on what a signing he is proving to be.