Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris said his side can start looking up the Premier League table after their 1-0 win at Leeds lifted them on to the 40-point mark.
Habib Diarra converted a penalty midway through the second half to snatch Sunderland their first win in five league matches and deal Leeds’ survival fight a blow.
Diarra, who had been a summer transfer target for Leeds before joining the Black Cats in a club-record £30million deal from Strasbourg in July, saw his unconvincing spot-kick almost saved by Leeds goalkeeper Karl Darlow.
But it halted his side’s four-game winless run and lifted them up to 11th and more significantly to 40 points – the traditional marker in the fight to avoid top-flight relegation.
When asked what was next, Le Bris said: “Forty three. I think step by step, this target was really important.
“We don’t know yet if it will be enough, because the season can be crazy and (relegation) still possible, because the race will be intense.
“But we still have nine games to play and if we keep the same mindset we can have other targets, (maybe) a bit higher, we’ll see.”
Apart from Diarra’s penalty – awarded for Leeds skipper Ethan Ampadu’s handball after referee Stuart Attwell checked the pitchside monitor – Sunderland did not have one effort on target in the match.
But they doggedly restricted Leeds to few scoring chances and Le Bris could not hide his satisfaction at taking all three points.
“I told the players, if we win here, it means a lot,” he said. “This place, if you win here, it feels a lot about the character, the intensity and the togetherness of the squad – and we did it.”
Leeds missed the chance to put clear daylight between themselves and the bottom three, slipping to back-to-back defeats after Saturday’s narrow home defeat to Manchester City.
Head coach Daniel Farke said: “We had nearly 20 shots. We had so many set-pieces, corner kicks, free-kicks. We didn’t give one chance away.
“But somehow we lost this game. Our opponents are in the dressing room probably struggling to explain how they won the game.”
Leeds defender Joe Rodon headed home shortly before the decisive penalty, but his effort was ruled out for offside, while substitute Jaka Bijol’s stoppage-time shot was deflected on to a post.
Farke, who was also aggrieved his side were not awarded a first-half penalty when Pascal Struijk appeared to be wrestled to the ground by Sunderland skipper Luke O’Nien, acknowledged they had not been good enough in the final third.
“We didn’t show the quality to bring the ball into the net,” he added. “This is football, a very important topic, and the reason why we lost.
“Of course, it’s really frustrating and annoying to accept this result.”
