Head coach Régis Le Bris hailed Sunderland’s “passion and identity” as they came from behind to secure a thrilling victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside. His men fell behind inside 10 minutes when Delano Burgzorg gave Boro the perfect start in this Championship clash.

Dan Neil equalised with a deflected strike that beat Mark Travers, before Wilson Isidor coolly rounded the Boro goalkeeper to net his 10th goal of the season early in the second period, following a brilliant assist from the inspired Enzo Le Fee. Against the run of play, Hayden Hackney restored Middlesbrough’s lead, but Le Fee’s magic saw him glide past Luke Ayling and deliver a dangerous cross that defender Ryan Giles cracked into his own net from 12 yards.

The result moved Sunderland to within three points of the top two, level on points with Burnley in third, while extending their unbeaten league run to six games. It was their first league win at the Riverside in 20 years.

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“I’m happy for the players, the club and the fans because it was a tough game," Le Bris said. “Middlesbrough started the game really well but we expected that, they are a good team. As the first half wore on it became more balanced and during half-time we spoke because I didn’t think it was a tactical problem. It was more about the identity and the passion that we need to have in a big game like this. We had to be patient. When you have the opportunity to show your quality we need to and I think in the second half we were really good at that.

“We made a mistake but at the same time we stayed patient and consistent. I really appreciated the second half, especially at the end of the game. That was the way we wanted to play. We showed that we could properly manage the last 10 minutes and I am pleased with that. Sometimes with young players in a long league season it’s not easy to keep the consistency but that’s the main point for the Championship.

Le Fee was the best player on the pitch and Le Bris added: “I was really confident in him and now he has to connect with his team-mates. He has to play as well because he didn’t play a lot of football. He will find a good rhythm after maybe one or two weeks. He is still at 70 per cent I think and that’s really good for us. He’s a hard worker, a good team-mate and he’s talented.”