I watched Sunderland's superb win over Oxford United and here are four conclusions I drew

Sunderland stretched their lead at the top of the Championship to five points with a 2-0 win over Oxford United.

Here’s Phil Smith’s key talking points from the game...

SUNDERLAND'S MOST ENCOURAGING PERFORMANCE YET

It has been a superb start to the season and everyone will have their favourite win.

It might have been the backs to the wall effort at Luton, where Sunderland showed their mettle. It might have Sheffield Wednesday, a much-fancied side blown away in half an hour. It might have been the hard-fought win over local rivals Middlesbrough, or against Burnley when Romaine Mundle showed that life after Jack Clarke might not be as scary as first feared.

This 2-0 win over Oxford United must surely go down as Sunderland's most complete victory to date, though. Oxford might not be the strongest opponent Sunderland have faced but nor should the quality of this performance be dismissed, Des Buckingham's side had drawn their previous five league games and that included fixtures against Burnley and West Brom. Buckingham conceded afterwards that Sunderland had been the first side to really dominate them this season, something that was reflected in the stats.

Sunderland conceded just one shot in the first half, and an expected goals tally of just 0.15 across the entire game. Sunderland had 64% of the ball, three times as many shots on target and an XG of 1.22. The speed and precision of Sunderland's passing, as well as some of the one-touch interplay on the right hand side in particular, brought to mind some of the very best performances of the Tony Mowbray era when Amad and Patrick Roberts were in full flow. Yet here Sunderland were able to combine that with a defensive structure that meant the result was barely ever in doubt, even more impressive given the gruelling two away games they had played in the days previous. Oh, and their striker scored again. Exciting times.

JOBE BELLINGHAM'S EYE-CATCHING DISPLAY

After the win over Derby County, Jobe Bellingham spoke about wanting to ensure that the all-round improvements in his game did not come at the expense of his pleasing knack of poaching goals from last season. Chris Rigg's arrival in the side has seen Bellingham's role shift slightly, operating slightly deeper than he had through much of last season and through pre-season. He has been a revelation in his box-to-box role, firmly drawing a line under any conversations about what his best position will be moving forward. He's combined his athleticism and physicality with quality on the ball, particularly impressive at receiving passes and turning away from his opponents. That increased responsibility and defensive work inevitably means it is harder for him to crash the box and score goals, which is what made his first-half header so encouraging moving forward.

Le Bris spoke afterwards about the final third being the hardest and final layer for his side to work as they implement his game model. This goal, from Hume picking up that inverted position to Bellingham's late run might well hint at something we can expect to see more of moving forward.

We may only be 12 games into the season, but we have reached the point now where we can say with a fair degree of certainty that Bellingham's game has gone to the next level and he is increasingly destined for the very top.

A STEADY LEAGUE DEBUT THAT WILL CALM NERVES

Sunderland have for a few windows now been facing the difficult challenge of ensuring they have adequate cover and competition for Anthony Patterson, while knowing it's not easy to recruit when any new arrival will understand that their chances of playing are very limited.

As such, he's probably the number one player Sunderland fans would not want to see absent from the teamsheet at 2pm. The Black Cats did exactly what you want to do when your main goalkeeper is missing: they kept the ball and prevented their opponent from putting any real pressure on their penalty box. As such, Simon Moore had a quiet afternoon from which it's impossible to draw any conclusions. Still, it was encouraging to see him offer an outlet for his defenders when they needed him in possession. His handling was good when required, and Oxford's one dangerous break in the second half was snuffed out when he raced off his line to clear. There'll be bigger tests ahead if Patterson misses another week or two, particularly if opponents are able to force more set pieces openings than Oxford were here, but Moore looked a steady pair of hands. He earned a firm vote of confidence of Le Bris afterwards, who praised his application in training and made clear he has no concerns selecting him again if required.

The Echo has launched a newWhatsAppSAFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join our SAFC WhatsApp channel.

SHIFT IN APPROACH ALLOWS NEIL TO THRIVE

Is it any coincidence that the game in which Sunderland enjoyed by far the most control of the ball in any game this season, Dan Neil produced by some distance his most commanding display of the season? Neil superb here, dropping into the back line to disrupt Oxford's press and picking his moments to drive through the heart of the pitch on the ball. Time and time again he wrapped a pass through the lines, allowing Rigg and Jobe then to turn and drive at the box.

It was a reminder of why Sunderland have such belief that Neil can star in this position, and that we haven't always seen it this season is probably a reflection of the fact that they have regularly spent more time without the ball than we might have anticipated. Salis Abdul Samed is going to be a great option on those occasions going forward but Neil's class is beyond doubt. Credit to Wilson Isidor, as well, whose movement is giving Neil another option to hit from deep.