Le Bris has quietly addressed Sunderland's underlying concern from last season

Dan Ballard had a goal ruled out, Enzo Le Fee hit the post, Thomas Meunier had an effort cleared off the line, and Brian Brobbey accidentally blocked Noah Sadiki's shot from finding the back of the net.

It appeared as though Sunderland were set for one of those days, with Brentford breaking the deadlock in the second half through Vitaly Janelt. But a late second-half penalty from Le Fee ensured a share of the points.

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Speaking to the BBC, Le Bris said: "I was really happy and pleased with our first half. It was probably one of our best first halves in the Premier League so far because Brentford are a really good team at home. But you have to be clinical.

"We dominated the ball and had a good bit of possession. It's a bit of a shame to concede the goal when we did. But the lads stayed connected. It was good for the substitutes because when they came on they were good and gave us extra drive."

The Bees narrowly missed out on European football last season and very rarely will a side head to the Gtech Community Stadium and put in such a commanding first-half display.

Now, onto Expected Goals (xG). Before that loses some readers who believe it to be a nonsense stat and that the only one that matters come the final whistle, is the goals that Sunderland scored, you're right, but lets take xG for what it's actually meant to be used for.

It's been used as a stick to beat Sunderland throughout the summer by certain rival supporters, in an attempt to diminish their qualification for Europe and even predict relegation this season.

Sunderland finished last season with an xG of 38.9, putting them in 18th place according to FotMob - but scored 42 goals in reality. What that means, in simple terms, is that they didn't create many good goalscoring opportunities, and relied on good finishing to win games.

There's little room for debate, Sunderland weren't free flowing in the final third, but edged narrow games to come away with the points. A mark of a good team in my view.

However, it's true, it's an area that Sunderland needed to address this summer. Le Bris needed to evolve his side and try to loosen the shackles in the final third, while keeping that stability at the back.

It may be early in the season and there's not the greatest pool of data to use, but the early signs are hugely positive.

In the draw against Brentford, Sunderland registered an xG of 1.71, showing they created good chances to score, but were unlucky in the final third. Compare that to the Bees, who registered 1.21 xG, and it shows the Wearsiders creating the better chances; they will feel aggrieved they didn't come away with all three points.

Granit Xhaka was a key figure in the game against Brentford, getting Sunderland on the front foot from a deep-lying position, with several dangerous balls into the final third. Admittedly, he didn't enjoy his best game in possession overall, losing the ball 25 times.

If you look at the win over Fulham, Sunderland again came out on top in terms of xG with 2.02 created, compared to Fulham's 0.95. The Black Cats have created a plethora of good opportunities in their last two outings.

Against Ipswich, they registered just 0.65 xG compared to the Tractor Boys' 1.80, and very few would argue that Le Bris' side were at the races that afternoon. There are several factors to take into account as to why they were off the boil; players returning late from pre-season, the World Cup hangover, a buoyant Ipswich Town and a general lack of cohesion - so lets put it down as the anomaly for now given the two goals conceded were huge individual errors.

However, the last two games were a huge improvement on that first outing. Sunderland have scored in their last five games in the Premier League, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of five games from 17th December 2016 to 14th January 2017.

The signs were there at the end of last season. The Black Cats weren't lucky to end up in European football, they played like a side that deserved it.

They had to contend with AFCON and injuries during the winter period last season, when their xG took a dip; any side who lost key players would likely suffer a similar downturn in fortunes.

To suggest Sunderland's underlying numbers are a reason why they'll be relegated this season is a lazy prediction to make. Especially when the numbers this season - albeit very early on in the campaign - show the Black Cats to be in the ascendency.

Nilson Angulo was really impressive against the Bees in the first half and caused a whole load of problems, while Malick Fofana looked bright in his second-half cameo. The Black Cats have strengthened their squad over the summer and Le Bris has made several tactical tweaks to evolve his style of play.

There's time for the data to change, but at the time of writing, there are real encouraging signs for Sunderland who are eighth in the table for expected goals created. They're creating good chances, but just need to make the most of them.

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