Sunderland were dismantled by Middlesbrough and lost 4-0 in a game which was very even until a bizarre red card.
Dan Neil was inexplicably sent off just before half time, then Boro fully exploited their one-man advantage. Sam Greenwood, Matt Crooke, Isaiah Jones and Marcus Forss all got on the scoresheet to leave Sunderland licking their wounds.
Both sides went into the game on good form; the Black Cats had won five of their last six games, whilst Middlesbrough had won their last three Championship games.
Tony Mowbray named an unchanged side: Patterson, Hume, O'Nien (C), Ballard, Huggins, Neil, Jobe, Ba, Roberts, Clarke, Burstow.
It was a cagey start but after 10 minutes Abdoullah Ba cut inside and curled an effort just over the bar. Soon after, Neil and Jobe Bellingham lost possession in midfield and Neil was forced to lunge in to win the ball back. The tackle was late though, resulting in an early booking.
Patrick Roberts went on a typically mazy run which took a number of Boro players out of the game. His low shot forced Seny Dieng into a smart save. On the half hour mark Mason Burstow counter-attacked from a Middlesbrough corner and ran the length of the pitch, but he was too indecisive and was dispossessed in their box.
The first half began to peter out with neither side managing to create anything of note. Then with literal seconds left of added time, Neil was given a second yellow card. No one knows what it was for - presumably something he said to the referee. It must have been bad to draw a second yellow - it instantly made the referee the pantomime villain, and several other players were booked as a brawl broke out on the half time whistle.
It was clear our midfield was far too open, even before the red. Neil was sitting deep but Jobe and Ba were both playing so advanced - almost as number nines, with Burstow a bit deeper. We were being overran. Mowbray tried to remedy this at half time by bringing Adil Aouchiche on for Burstow - damage limitation mode.
The second half began with an onslaught of Boro chances. Patterson somehow got his fingertips to a close-range effort, before Paddy McNair headed over from close range from the following corner.
Before the hour mark Boro scored their first. We failed to properly deal with a corner and boyhood Sunderland fan Sam Greenwood lashed a good finish beyond Patterson. At this point it looked like the best we could have hoped for was a draw.
Just two minutes later the deficit doubles as Isaiah Jones zipped past Jack Clarke and teed up Matt Crooks for a simple finish. We kept them at bay for a while after that, but Jones then made it 3-0 after 70 minutes - although some were claiming a foul on O'Nien off-the-ball.
With the game already well and truly dead, Forss made it 4-0 in the 89th minute. Then five minutes added time was announced, to many groans in the stands.
Michael Carrick got his tactics spot on, especially in the second half, whilst nothing came off for Tony Mowbray today.
Full time: Sunderland 0-4 Middlesbrough
ALS Man of the Match - Dan Ballard: Tried his absolute hardest to keep Boro at bay.
