Noah Sadiki’s stoppage-time strike gives Sunderland 2-1 Europa League win in Leiria
Noah Sadiki's stoppage-time strike gave Sunderland a 2-1 Europa League victory over Torreense in Leiria on 15 October 2026, the Democratic Republic of Congo midfielder scoring three minutes into added time after build-up play from Enzo Le Fée and Granit Xhaka.
Sunderland had trailed to Volnei Feltes’s opener before Jules Ahoka headed an equaliser, and Sadiki’s finish completed the comeback to secure a second straight win in the competition for Régis Le Bris’s side. The match was played in Leiria because Torreense’s home ground in Torres Vedras is too small for European fixtures, and the stadium sits beneath a 12th-century castle that overlooked Sunderland’s first competitive trip to the continent for 53 years — back in 1973 they were second division FA Cup holders.
Le Bris rotated his squad ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth, leaving Xhaka, Le Fée and Nordi Mukiele on the bench at kick-off and handing the captain’s armband to Luke O'Nien in central defence; O'Nien headed an early corner narrowly wide. Around 4,000 official tickets had been allocated to Sunderland supporters but local availability and estimates that the formal allocation had doubled meant a sizable travelling following turned the ground into a sea of red and white as temperatures fell from a high of 28C.
Sunderland produced a tepid first half as Malick Fofana, a £30m summer signing from Lyon, and Nilson Angulo struggled on the flanks while the referee repeatedly penalised perceived Sunderland fouls. Torreense, managed by Luís Tralhão and 15th in Portugal’s second tier, defended robustly and opened the scoring with Feltes’s 20-yard curler into the top corner — the visitors’ only shot before the break. Timur Tutierov thought he had headed a Sunderland opener midway through the first half, but the effort was disallowed for shirt pulling by Omar Alderete.
Le Bris’s quadruple substitution — introducing Le Fée, Xhaka, Mukiele and Reinildo — shifted the momentum and created Sunderland’s equaliser when 20-year-old Jules Ahoka, an £8.5m summer signing from Royal Antwerp, powered a header from Mukiele’s dink to register his first goal for the club. Xhaka then fashioned a clear chance for Ahoka that Lucas Paes saved, and a lengthy VAR review followed a spot-kick incident after Tutierov went down in the box: the referee initially pointed to the spot, a linesman flagged for offside, and VAR intervened before concluding there had been no offside and no foul.
Le Fée later dinkle into the box and Xhaka’s cross fell to Sadiki, who waited for the ball to drop before lashing home his eye-catching finish. The late winner prompted a dramatic celebration as Sadiki vaulted advertising hoardings, sprinted across the running track and hurled himself at the jubilant Sunderland fans, with every outfield player joining him in the stands.
The result ensured Sunderland’s second consecutive Europa League victory and arrived after Le Bris’s deliberate rotation ahead of Sunday’s vital Premier League visit to Bournemouth.
