page_title: Stéphane Sessègnon
section_title: 2010–11 season
hierarchical_section_title: Stéphane Sessègnon / Club career / Sunderland / 2010–11 season
caption_attribution_description: Stéphane Sessègnon playing for Sunderland against Arsenal.
context_page_description: Stéphane Sessègnon is a Beninese professional footballer who most recently played for Turkish club Gençlerbirliği. He is a Benin international, having represented the nation at both the 2008 and 2010 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. Sessègnon plays a variety of positions as a forward, a winger and as a midfield offensive playmaker. He is Benin's all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 24 international goals in 82 matches.
context_section_description: On 29 January 2011, Sessègnon departed Paris Saint-Germain to join English club Sunderland. He signed a three-and-a-half-year contract and the transfer fee was priced at £6 million, and made his debut on 1 February against Chelsea. He made his second start for the Black Cats in 3–2 away loss against Stoke City on 5 February 2011. His first real successful moment as a Sunderland player after a disappointing start came on 23 April, where he scored his first goal for the club in the 4–2 win over Wigan Athletic. He converted a penalty of his own making in the 73rd minute, beating Ali Al-Habsi after being tripped by Antolín Alcaraz. Sessègnon had been forced to play in an unfamiliar role as a lone striker, after injuries to strikers Danny Welbeck and Asamoah Gyan during the match.
  Sessègnon scored in Sunderland's home defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and again in the final match of the season, a 0–3 win at West Ham United.
caption: Sessègnon playing for Sunderland in 2011.
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