Richarisson’s second goal stole the headline when he defeated Burnley debutant Martin Devravka with a bold overhead kick after latching to the first half from Kudus on the right.
He was a carbon copy assist from Kudus, who lined up to the right of the front three alongside Richarrison and left winger Johnson, but his delivery was slightly behind by his teammates.
“I think this guy is Brazilian,” Richarisson said of Kudus. He spoke to the BBC after the match. “I’m very happy with this guy. Next week, this guy worked so hard for the team, so I need to score.”
Speaking with Richarisson, Kudus added: “I think it was a great finish. I think it was a perfect cross, but he looked better. It’s good to set up a striker.
“Part of the main reason I wanted to come here was to be in a position where I could play the position I wanted to play and be in a position where I could entertain the fans because I believe that is the purpose of the game, but most importantly, I do it at the right time.
Potter laments basic errors from West Ham
It was a three-star season in which the Black Cats promotions made a difference, as Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor assured Sunderland was co-top of the full-time whi Premier League table.
After the first half of the first half, when they were a better team, West Ham died in a stadium of noisy light following Mayenda’s opener – Sunderland’s first Premier League goal since Javier Mankilo won the net in 2017 – and allowed Regis Le Bliss to run out of comfortable winners.
Potter was not impressed afterwards as signing three players so far, in stark contrast to the enemies in this transfer window, suggesting that West Ham had improved the disappointing 2024/25 campaign and wasn’t enough to compensate for the loss of Kudus.
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Highlights: Isaac is not here as Newcastle can’t break through 10 villas in the season opener
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“We need to improve, we need to improve, we need to understand what happened,” Potter told the BBC. “There wasn’t much in the game, and it was a great margins game, but the scoreline wasn’t very much reflected in us and we need to accept that.
“The goal is a big moment and you need to get better as soon as the game gets 1-0.
When asked where these improvements need to come, Potter said, “It was the fundamentals of football for me. I will protect your box and get better in those situations.
Le Bliss believed Sunderland’s overhauled lineup was to condemn West Ham’s first half advantage for a new signature that accounted for seven of the only 11 starting 11 introduced by teams last season, Ballard, Mayenda, Trihume and Jenson Ciel.
New centre-back Omar Alderey came out from the bench, while Marc Giu was an unused replacement, but the show star was Granite Zaca – Le Bliss praised the Swiss midfielder.
“Granite is important to us, he sets the tone and we knew before that he could be a key factor in our team,” Le Bliss told the BBC. “We have a lot of young players and we want to make sure everyone is working together. We need this kind of player.
“They started off well, they’re more experienced so perhaps they were a bit shy in the first half and needed time to lead to this level. We had pre-season games, but it’s not a big deal about how many changes we made with the team.
“So we needed time and we tried to find adjustments this first half, but in the second half the team’s energy and unity became much better and we found a solution.”
Ballard also paid tribute to Xhaka, telling the BBC’s final score: “We’re very fortunate to have him. His presence, his place, his leadership. I’ve never seen it on a player. We’re a pretty young team and I didn’t think there was anyone he had.
“There were obviously some nerves and there were a lot of expectations for this game. We wanted the three points of today. We didn’t think we’d settled down anything less. So there was a bit of nerves and excitement.
