Luke O'Nien's brilliant Sunderland gesture, Newcastle chants plus Michael Beale's Nazariy Rusyn exchange

Sunderland kicked off 2024 with a 2-0 win over Preston - and there were plenty of talking points after the game at the Stadium of Light.

First-half goals from Alex Pritchard and Nazariy Rusyn, his first for the club, gave the Black Cats all three points in front of the Sky cameras. Here are some of the moments you may have missed:

VAR question

Pritchard was recalled to Sunderland's starting XI after overcoming an illness during the festive period. The playmaker's goal to open the scoring in the 10th minute was a stunning strike, yet the Preston players felt they should have been awarded a throw-in before the goal, with the ball appearing to come off Jack Clarke before the decision went Sunderland's way.

"It probably comes off the heel of Clarke but that's so hard for the referee to see," said former Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth in the Sky Sports studio. "There is over 20 seconds of play afterwards. The question is with the Premier League would that have gone right back to the throw-in?"

Luke O'Nien's brilliant gesture

Sunderland's second goal came just before half time as Clarke skipped past Ali McCann, with referee Oliver Langford playing advantage after a foul from the Preston man, and Jordan Storey before setting up Rusyn with a low cross from the left.

Rusyn went straight to Clarke to thank the wideman for his assist, before Luke O'Nien picked up the Ukrainian forward and pushed him towards the Roker End to take the applause. Clarke also acknowledged Anthony Patterson's role in the goal, giving the goalkeeper a thumbs up for throwing the ball out quickly to start the move.

Beale's half-time exchange with Rusyn

While Beale only took charge of Sunderland four games ago, the head coach is well aware the club's strikers have been low on confidence.

As the players emerged from the dressing room, caught on the club's Access All Areas video, for the second half, Beale called Rusyn before saying, 'Naz, you scored' with a smile on his face. Sunderland fans will hope Rusyn's goal will be the first of many for the Ukrainian.

Newcastle chants

Next up for Sunderland is Saturday's huge Wear-Tyne derby against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. That fixture will be the first time the sides have met for almost eight years, and was already on supporters' minds during the Preston game, with fans in the Roker End chanting 'stand up if you hate the Mags.'

Man of the match award breaks

Pritchard was awarded Sky's man of the match award after netting his first goal of the season, while the playmaker has also registered three assists in his last six Sunderland appearances - which only includes three starts.

After being handed the man of the match award and conducting a post-match interview with Jack Clarke, the trophy appeared to break in Pritchard's hands while he was walking off the pitch. More importantly, Sunderland must make a decision on the 30-year-old's future at the club with less than six months on his contract.