Welsh delight as Sunderland beat Benfica

Andy Welsh praised his Sunderland side after they opened their Premier League International Cup campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Benfica.

Sunderland took the lead on 19 minutes through Joel Asoro but Benfica levelled after the break thanks to Heriberto Tavares's close-range finish.

The home side struck their winner late when Luke Molyneux finished off George Honeyman’s miscued shot.

"We won the game against the run of play but it was deserved," Welsh told safc.com. "The lads worked really hard and it was against a really difficult team."

Sunderland will look to build on their winnning start at home to PSV Eindhoven on 23 December.

See: Sunderland match report | Premier League International Cup fixtures