Luke O'Nien scored on his return from injury as Sunderland came from behind to beat Fleetwood Town and move back into the play-off places. O'Nien had been out for almost four months after undergoing shoulder surgery, but he came off the bench with 20 minutes remaining and scored the goal that completed the turnaround.
Fleetwood had taken the lead just before the half-hour through Ellis Harrison after a terrible error from Bailey Wright. But Elliot Embleton had levelled for the Black Cats soon after half-time.
Fleetwood were reduced to ten men a couple of minutes from the end when Zak Jules was sent off for a second bookable offence. And on-loan Spurs man Jack Clarke sealed the win in added time, scoring his first goal for the club.
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It was Alex Neil's first home win in charge of the Wearsiders, and it lifted the Black Cats back into the play-off places and up to fifth in the table, while Fleetwood are now winless in ten games. Neil made three changes to the side that drew at Charlton at the weekend, handing January signing Patrick Roberts his first start, and bringing Embleton and Clarke into his starting XI.
They replaced Lynden Gooch, Nathan Broadhead, and the injured Alex Pritchard. Fleetwood boss Stephen Crainey also made three changes, in his case to the side that lost at home to Ipswich Town on Saturday.
Shayden Morris, Barry Baggley, and Dylan Boyle came into the side, with Callum Camps, Anthony Pilkington, and Tom Clarke making way. Sunderland were sloppy in the first half, and looked well off-the-pace with Fleetwood the better side despite having less of the ball.
Full-back Danny Andrew cut in from the left and forced Anthony Patterson into an early save, and a couple of minutes later it took an excellent block from Matete to deny Morris inside the box. Sunderland continued to look edgy at the back whenever Fleetwood came forward, and the visitors took the lead on 28 minutes - although the goal was a gift.
Wright tried to play a simple pass to Arbenit Xhemajli just outside the box on the right but miskicked and that let in Harrison, who raced into the box and his low shot squeezed between Patterson and his near post. The crowd were frustrated at the way their team had started the game, and the tension inside the ground went up a notch after the goal went in.
Goalscorer Harrison picked up a knock and after needing treatment on a couple of occasions, he was replaced by Ged Garner shortly before the interval. With half-time approaching, Sunderland belatedly began to offer a threat and some neat footwork from Clarke inside the box created space for a shot but keeper Alex Cairns saved with his legs.
And then in injury time at the end of the first period, Carl Winchester's pass found Embleton with time to measure his finish but he hit his first-time effort straight at the keeper. Neil had to shake things up and he made a double change at half-time, sending on Gooch and Jermain Defoe in place of Xhemajli and Corry Evans.
Sunderland immediately looked sharper and they levelled within 10 minutes of the restart. Clarke's cross-shot from the left edge of the box was pushed away by Cairns and the ball hit his own player, with Embleton forcing it home from close range.
Fleetwood had chances to go back in front, with Patterson called upon to push an Andrew free-kick away from the top right-hand corner, and the keeper later got down smartly to his left to deny substitute Ged Garner when he should have scored from 12 yards out. But Sunderland completed the turnaround with eight minutes to go when Defoe saw a shot blocked and O'Nien latched onto the loose ball inside the box before steering it beyond the keeper into the bottom left-hand corner.
Fleetwood went down to ten men three minutes from the end when Jules fouled Ross Stewart and was shown a second yellow card, having earlier been booked for a foul on Defoe. And Sunderland made sure of the points in the 91st minute when Clarke cut inside from the left and smashed a right-foot shot past the keeper from inside the D.
How they lined up
Sunderland: Patterson, Winchester, Wright, Xhemajli (Defoe 46), Cirkin, Matete, Evans (Gooch 46), Roberts (O'Nien 71), Embleton, Clarke, Stewart. Subs not used: Hoffmann, Neil, Doyle, Hume
Booked: Evans, Cirkin
Fleetwood Town: Cairns, Johnson, Nsiala, Jules, Andrew, Boyle, Morris (Thiam 72), Baggley (Hayes 52), Lane, Johnson, Harrison (Garner 41). Subs not used: O'Hara, Butterworth, Donaghy, Bird
Booking: Jules
Sent off: Jules
Referee: Samuel Barrott (West Yorkshire)
Attendance: 28,017
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