Premier League 2025-26: Sunderland’s Xhaka earns draw after Ndiaye’s stunner for Everton

Iliman Ndiaye scored a brilliant solo goal for Everton but Granit Xhaka’s deflected equalizer secured a deserved point for Sunderland in Monday’s entertaining 1-1 Premier League draw at the Stadium of Light.

Promoted Sunderland continues its good start to the season and climbs to fourth place with 18 points from ten games, while Everton is in fourteenth place with twelve points.

Ndiaye put the visitor ahead inside fifteen minutes when he picked up the ball on the right flank and drove towards goal, beating four defenders with his quick feet and curling his shot into the net from the edge of the penalty area.

Sunderland took control of the match after half an hour and created numerous chances, with Xhaka’s goal finding its way into the net off James Tarkowski’s foot 40 seconds into the second half.

Both coaches will look at the result with some sense of frustration: Everton’s David Moyes for early missed chances, and Sunderland’s Regis Le Bris for his side’s failure to make their second-half dominance count.

«To be honest, today we lost the three points in the first 20-25 minutes. In my opinion we are sloppy with the ball, too many mistakes, easy mistakes,» Xhaka said. Air sports.

«At this level you are punished, but the second half was very good. There were a lot of emotions. We created a lot of chances. With a little more luck we will win this match, but in the end we will get one point,» he added.

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Moyes has talked about Everton earning European football next season, but until they start getting goals from their failing attackers, that is a dream.

Everton dominated the first half hour, but only scored one goal thanks to Ndiaye’s beautiful strike.

James Garner fired a shot inches wide in the opening seconds, Jack Grealish hit the post and Thierno Barry fired over the ball from two yards out when it looked easier to score.

Had he made it 2-0 at that moment, it is likely that Everton would have won, but Sunderland then seized power, buoyed by his luck.

They got the equalizer within a minute of the second half when Xhaka’s low shot found the net off Tarkowski as goalkeeper Jordan Pickford appeared to have covered it.

Sunderland’s pressure did not turn into another goal as Everton tried to keep the ball at bay.

“We started really well and got a great goal from Ndiaye,” said Pickford.

«Then they changed their shape a bit and the defensive effort we had to put in was first class. You always want to score that second goal and we didn’t do that. But we came away from home and got a point,» he added.

Published on November 4, 2025