Chemsdine Talbi just revealed Sunderland’s greatest ‘quality’ and Granit Xhaka is absolutely key to it

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Sunderland shocked the Premier League once more this weekend with a thrilling win over Chelsea, and it’s led to the Black Cats’ main strength being revealed.

A late goal from Chemsdine Talbi was enough to complete an impressive comeback win for Sunderland at Stamford Bridge.

It’s a win that proves Sunderland can match the big teams in the Premier League and signals just how much of a threat they will be this season.

While Talbi stole the headlines with his last-gasp winner, the whole Sunderland team contributed to the victory, and that’s exactly what makes the Black Cats so formidable right now.

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Chemsdine Talbi calls Sunderland squad a ‘family’

Speaking after the game, Talbi said plenty about the team spirit at Sunderland and how easy it’s been for him to settle into the Premier League thanks to the positive environment in the dressing room.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	ArsenalArsenal	8	6	1	1	15	3	12	19
2	SunderlandSunderland	9	5	2	2	11	7	4	17
3	Manchester CityManchester City	8	5	1	2	17	6	11	16
4	Manchester UnitedManchester United	9	5	1	3	15	14	1	16
5	BournemouthBournemouth	8	4	3	1	14	11	3	15
6	LiverpoolLiverpool	9	5	0	4	16	14	2	15

Talbi said: “We have to play with our qualities. Our big quality is to be a team. We saw it today. We defend as a team, we suffer together.

Our biggest strength is being a team. On the pitch and off the pitch we are like a family. We laugh together but we can be serious when the game starts or training starts. I have a great feeling here. They invited me in here and it’s really nice.”

That togetherness and determination was a huge part of Sunderland’s promotion push last season. Now, despite 15 new signings coming through the door and the standard starting XI changing so much over the summer, the mentality remains the same.

And the real beauty of team spirit is, there’s very little an opponent can do to combat that. It’s all down to what happens in the Sunderland dressing room or on the training ground, and as long as the players keep fighting for one another, they’ll continue to be so difficult to beat.

• READ MORE: Chelsea star ‘bullied’ as Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland earn huge win at Stamford Bridge

Granit Xhaka said exactly the same about Sunderland

Granit Xhaka has been a driving force behind Sunderland’s success and is undoubtedly their signing of the summer. The new Black Cats skipper even mentioned that idea of togetherness before, and how crucial it will be to Sunderland achieving their goals this season.

Just over a month ago, Xhaka said: “It’s not always easy to come to a team that have been promoted. We knew that we had to build a connection as quickly as possible. Of course we have had a good start but it’s not luck, it’s about how we work, our togetherness and team spirit, our mentality day by day.

“After that, you can have this start. But it’s still the beginning, still many things to improve. But today showed myself and the team that is very hard to beat with us.”

After the latest win, it’s hard to imagine anyone breaking down Sunderland’s team spirit. They’re now in the top five in the Premier League after nine games, and it looks like Sunderland will not only survive, but thrive this season.