Lady Luck was certainly shining down on Ross Stewart as Sunderland took on Lincoln City in midweek, the Scot bundling the ball home on the rebound after his initial penalty was saved by visiting goalkeeper Josh Griffiths.
Though that is not to say Stewart usually has to rely on the whims of good fortune.
There was nothing lucky about the way he dismantled Sheffield Wednesday at the end of December, netting his maiden hat-trick in English football.
He was an unfortunate deflection away from successive trebles against AFC Wimbledon too. And that most scrappy of midweek tap-ins took Stewart’s tally to 18 goals in just 26 games this season.
It is not unrealistic at this stage to suggest that the so-called ‘Loch Ness Drogba’ could actually exceed the remarkable tally produced by Charlie Wyke during his final season at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland’s promotion hopes appeared to be in terminal decline once Wyke, last season’s 31 goal top scorer, left for title-rivals Wigan Athletic.
Thanks to Stewart, however, Sunderland are second in the table, level on points with Rotherham United and dreaming of an escape from their League One prison.
Should Celtic look to bring back Sunderland’s Ross Stewart?
“Ross Stewart is starting to look like he could finish the season as the league’s top goalscorer,” said former Black Cats ace Stephen Elliott, speaking to the Sunderland Echo.
“His movement on Saturday was top class and he must be feeling very confident at the moment that he will score a couple every game. We better hope he can stay fit and healthy.”
Remarkably, Stewart has scored more goals in the first half of this season than he managed in three full campaigns at former employers Ross County north of the border.
Now tenth in the Premiership table, just four points off the bottom, how Malky Mackay’s Staggies could do with Stewart back in Dingwall.
According to the Daily Record, the Ayrshire-born targetman also had a spell in Celtic’s academy before being released by arguably the biggest club in the country.
There’s an argument to be made, given Celtic’s overreliance on Kyogo Furuhashi, that Ross County are not the only Premiership club who may be wishing they could call upon the irrepressible Stewart these days.
Celtic and Ross County’s loss, however, is most certainly Sunderland’s gain.
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