Sunderland vs Stoke City. Premier League.
Stadium of LightAttendance41,516.
Saturday 28 November 2015 20:30, UK
Sunderland moved out of the Premier League’s bottom three for the first time this season after beating Stoke City 2-0 at the Stadium of the Light.
Patrick van Aanholt opened the scoring for the Black Cats with less than eight minutes remaining, with young forward Duncan Watmore making sure of the points moments later.
Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross had been dismissed shortly after the break for a second bookable offence following a mistimed challenge on Watmore.
Victory lifts Sunderland above rivals Newcastle and into 17th place, while Stoke drop to 12th following the defeat.
Ahead of the match, Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce spoke of the need for his side to "cut out defensive errors" and build on the clean sheet claimed in the 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Monday.
Allardyce also insisted the Black Cats would avoid relegation if they match last season's tally of 13 Premier League clean sheets and he would have been more than encouraged by the start his side made.
Jermain Defoe, fresh from scoring the winner for Sunderland at Selhurst Park, came close to breaking the deadlock, but fired just wide of the post after good work from Sebastian Larsson.
However, the forward's afternoon came to a premature end midway through the first half. Having battled to prove his fitness for the match after sustaining an ankle injury at Palace, Defoe was forced off with a suspected hamstring problem and replaced by Watmore.
Sunderland continued to look the most threatening of the sides, but against the run of play Stoke nearly snatched the lead through Jonathan Walters.
The Potters arrived on Wearside having never won a league match at the Stadium of Light and were denied a half-time lead when Walters' effort from point blank range was stopped instinctively by Costel Pantilimon.
Mark Hughes' side have proved a tough nut to crack away from the Britannia Stadium - losing just once - but the task of maintaining their impressive record on the road was made even harder shortly after the interval when Shawcross was given his marching orders.
Shawcross, booked shortly before the break for bringing down Steven Fletcher, was penalised once again for a late challenge, this time on the energetic Watmore.
Sunderland immediately attempted to make their numerical advantage count and only a magnificent stop from Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland denied Sebastian Coates opening the scoring.
But with less than 10 minutes remaining, Stoke's resolve finally crumbled as Van Aanholt lashed his low shot past Butland from 20-yards out following some quick thinking from Adam Johnson.
The impressive Watmore then wrapped up the points for his side as he capitalised on some poor Stoke defending and finished emphatically to ensure Sunderland claimed back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time this season.
Player ratings
Sunderland: Pantilimon (7), Yedlin (7), O'Shea (7), Kaboul (7), Coates (7), Van Aanholt (8), Cattermole (7), M'Vila (7), Larsson (6), Defoe (6), Fletcher (6).
Subs used: Watmore (8), Lens (7), Johnson (7).
Subs not used: Mannone, Borini, Matthews, Toivonen.
Stoke: Butland (6), Pieters (5), Johnson (6), Shawcross (5), Wollscheid (5), Whelan (5), Arnautovic (5), Adam (5), Shaqiri (5), Bojan (5), Walters (5).
Subs used; Cameron (5), Diouf (5).
Subs not used: Haugaard, Wilson, Afellay, Van Ginkel, Crouch.
Man of the Match: Duncan Watmore
