Sunderland threw away a lead at home as West Brom staged a second-half fightback to claim all three points. Black Cats in-form wideman Amad scored his fifth goal in seven games when he earned and then converted a penalty inside the opening 20 minutes.
But Sunderland allowed West Brom to get a grip on the game and in the second half their substitutions changed the course of the game. First Tom Rogic fired the visitors level with 20 minutes remaining, before Daryl Dike scored what turned out to be the winner inside the final ten minutes.
It was a fourth successive win for West Brom, who climbed to 17th in the table, while Sunderland stay 11th on a night when they could have moved up to seventh. Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray made one change to the side that beat Millwall 3-0 on Wearside last time out, with Elliot Embleton replacing Jack Clarke with the latter dropping to the bench.
READ MORE: Sunderland 1-2 West Brom: Highlights and reaction after Black Cats let lead slip at home
West Brom boss Carlos Corberan also made one change, in his case to the side that beat Stoke City 2-0 before the World Cup break, with Erik Pieters replacing Kyle Bartley. Sunderland started on the front foot and Alex Pritchard sent an early shot wide of goal, before first Aji Alese and then Lynden Gooch saw efforts blocked inside the penalty area.
Amad was a constant threat for the Black Cats down the right and it was no surprise that he was at the centre of things as the hosts took the lead on 19 minutes. The on-loan Manchester United man cut into the penalty area down the right and was brought down by a clumsy challenge from Conor Townsend, with referee James Linington immediately pointing to the spot.
Amad stepped up to take the kick himself, sending Alex Palmer the wrong way and tucking the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. Sunderland almost doubled their lead two minutes later when Amad's ball into the box found Ellis Simms and he stretched out a leg and flicked it into the path of the unmarked Pritchard six yards out, with only a brilliant block from the advancing Palmer denying the midfielder and diverting his effort behind for a corner.
West Brom gradually began to find a way into the game, with John Swift firing a free-kick narrowly over the bar. And then Danny Batth had a lucky escape when he was shown a yellow card rather than a red after being caught in possession by Swift and bringing down the Baggies man, with Linington deciding there was a covering defender.
West Brom finished the first half the better side, and Sunderland needed the break in order to reset. But the Baggies continued in the second period where they had left off in the first, and Sunderland found themselves pressed back for long spells.
Anthony Patterson made a crucial stop soon after the restart when Matty Phillips' low cross was met by Swift at close range but his shot hit the keeper and went behind for a corner. Just after the hour, Townsend then flashed a shot across the face of goal as the visitors continued to press.
It looked to be just a matter of time before an equaliser came and, following a series of substitutions, the goal duly came 20 minutes from time. A short corner on the right ended up with a low cross played into the box which found Dike with his back to goal, and he teed up Rogic to fire into the bottom right-hand corner.
In the final ten minutes, Amad went down inside the box again but this time the referee was unimpressed by his penalty appeal. And West Brom completed the turnaround seven minutes from the end when Wallace crossed from the right, Patterson came off his line but hesitated, and that left Dike with a simple header from eight yards out.
In the final minutes, Batth glanced a header just wide from a corner but that was as close as Sunderland came to forcing a point.
How they lined up
Sunderland: Patterson, Gooch, O'Nien, Batth (Roberts 89), Alese, Evans, Neil (Cirkin 74), Amad, Pritchard (Dajaku 89), Embleton (Clarke 58), Simms (Ba 89). Subs not used: Bass, Hume
Booked: Batth
West Brom: Palmer, Furlong, Pieters (Gardner-Hickman 65), O'Shea, Townsend (Reach 65), Yokuslu, Molumby (Rogic 58), Wallace (Kelly 86), Swift, Phillips, Thomas-Asante (Dike 65). Subs not used: Button, Grant
Booked: Wallace
Referee: James Linington (Newport)
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