How it played out as Sunderland's winning run is ended by late Cardiff City winner

Sunderland's unbeaten run came to an abrupt end on Sunday afternoon as Cardiff City scored from a let piece to snatch all three points at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats had controlled possession for much of the game and had been rarely troubled by the visitors, but Erol Bulut's side had proven difficult to break down and were rewarded for growing into an increasingly open game when Mark McGuinness stooped to meet a late corner.

That brought Tony Mowbray's side their first defeat in six matches

The two sides had come into the game in excellent form and perhaps as expected, Sunderland enjoyed the vast majority of the ball from the off as the visitors looked to defend in numbers and counterattack when possible.

Cardiff's defensive shape for the most part was good, making it difficult for Sunderland to play through them and forge clear chances. Both Mason Burstow and Jobe had efforts on target in the first fifteen, but both headers were weak and never likely to trouble Alnwick.

Midway through the half Sunderland created the first big opening, Jobe releasing Ba in the box with a clever pass. Ba looked likely to shoot but instead cut the ball back into the heart of the box, where Alex Pritchard's goalbound effort was just diverted wide of the post by a trailing Cardiff leg. From the following corner, Sunderland worked it well to Dan Neil on the edge of the box and though his effort was cleanly struck, it flew over the crossbar.

Ba was Sunderland's biggest threat but Cardiff managed to steady and get themselves back in the contest, Mowbray's side not testing Alnwick as much as they would have liked. A moment of brilliance from Clarke almost got them ahead shortly before the break, the winger beating two players before forcing a save with his low effort across goal.

Cardiff had worked their way into promising positions on the break on a couple of occasions throughout the half, but had lacked the quality to ask any question of Patterson up until the break.

The rhythm of the game changed little in the second half, Alnwick getting down well to save Pritchard's effort from the edge of the area after a good Sunderland move. Clarke then fed Huggins inside the box but from a decent position, the full back could only curl wide of the far post.

The visitors then forged their first big chance of the game, sloppy work from Sunderland allowing Cardiff to work it out to Tanner on the left. His low cross found Ugbo, but after taking a touch the striker could only blaze over the bar.

Both benches made attacking substitutions in a bid to force something from the game and it almost yielded an immediate result for Sunderland, Roberts drawing a decent stop from Alnwick before Hume's effort was blocked superbly by McGuinness. The game was now far more open and both teams looked dangerous, excellent footwork from substitute Etete almost yielding a big shooting chance in the box.

Sunderland were playing some increasingly loose passes in their own defensive third and were punished when Cardiff were able under little pressure to forge a late corner, which McGuinness was able to meet in the box and turn into the far corner.

The Black Cats had already been looking tired and in truth they struggled to create anything of note in the few minutes that remained, with Patterson having to make on excellent stop to deny Wintle from adding a second on the break.

Sunderland XI: Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Huggins (Rusyn, 87); Neil, Jobe (Aouchiche, 62); Ba (Roberts, 61), Pritchard, Clarke; Burstow (Hemir, 61)

Subs: Bishop, Taylor, Seelt, Triantis, Rigg

Cardiff City XI: Alnwick; Ng, Goutas, McGuinness, Collins; Siopis, Ralls (Adams, 77), Wintle (Romeo, 90); Meite (Colwill, 63), Grant (Tanner, 45), Ugbo (Etete, 62)

Subs: Runarsson, Adams, Panzo, Rinomhota, Robinson

Bookings: Ba, 8 Siopis, 55 Burstow, 57 Colwill, 76

Attendance: 41,581