View: Eliezer Mayenda silences doubters with 75% Sunderland showing v Sheff Utd
Eliezer Mayenda registered a goal and an assist for Sunderland as they secured a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United on Wednesday night.
The Black Cats maintained their unbeaten home run at the expense of the Blades with Mayenda playing a crucial role in what remains as a push for an automatic promotion spot.
The 19-year-old has game in for his fair share of criticism this season and some of it has been justified with a handful of poor performances but his showing against Sheffield United was a testament to the level of ability he possesses.
Mayenda will have a huge role to play for the Black Cats this season and if he can maintain these levels, he can become a real promotion wildcard.
Eliezer Mayenda runs the show for Sunderland v Sheffield United
Given it’s his first real season in senior football, to have seven goal contributions by January is an excellent return for a player who has been in and out of the team.
His performance against the Blades was comfortably his best in a Sunderland shirt and plenty of optimism can be taken from it.
According to FotMob, Mayenda registered three shots on target with a 75 per cent accuracy. His only shot off target was a right-footed effort that narrowly missed the far post as the Black Cats looked to increase their advantage.
His goal arrived from a 0.35 xG (expected goals) while his assist came from an xA (expected assists) of 0.14 which is a testament to the quality on show from Wilson Isidor or Sunderland’s second of the night.
With three chances created, Mayenda was constantly looking to cause a threat and for the large part, he succeeded.
10 of his 29 touches arrived in the Sheffield United penalty area with him always looking to provide an option on and off the ball.
The Spaniard will take some much-needed confidence from his performance and will look to carry that into their next encounter against struggling Portsmouth.
In other Sunderland news, Don Goodman thinks it is unrealistic for the Black Cats to sign this player.
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