Sunderland fell to their second defeat in as many games this afternoon as the Black Cats lost the Wear-Tees derby 2-1 at the Stadium of Light. A first-half brace from Christian Stuani was enough to see of David Moyes’ men despite a late second-half push from the Black Cats.
Sunderland began bright and caused Boro problems in the opening minutes through Adnan Januzaj, however, a screamer from Stuani on 13 minutes turned the game on its head. The Black Cats tried to fight back but were undone again just before the break when Stuani had the simplest of finishes after some neat play from the dangerous Alvaro Negredo.
The second half began much like the first, with Sunderland on the front foot, however, it wasn’t until the 70th minute when the Black Cats finally found the back of the net. Patrick Van Aanholt steered home after Brad Guzan spilled a low drive from Duncan Watmore to keep hope alive for Sunderland. It wasn’t to be though, with Boro hanging on to claim a fortunate, but vital three points.
Below is how the Sunderland players rated this afternoon:
