Dennis Cirkin scored on his return to the starting line-up to fire Sunderland to victory at Cardiff City and back into the Championship top ten. Defender Cirkin was starting for the first time since mid-February after recovering from the after-effects of concussion, but he was thinking clearly enough on the hour when he reacted quickly to score from close range after Alex Pritchard's free-kick had been kept out by a combination of post and goalkeeper.
Sunderland were by far the better side against a poor Cardiff side, who sunk to fourth-bottom, a point outside the drop zone. As for the Black Cats, there are now just four points between Tony Mowbray's tenth-placed side and the play-off spots.
Mowbray made four changes to the side that drew against Hull City on Friday. Luke O'Nien did not travel, and he was replaced by Cirkin.
