Sunderland stopped the rot and rejoined the Championship play-off race as they earned a hard-fought win at Norwich City. The Black Cats had been experiencing a dip, with just one point from their last four games - a run that included three successive defeats - which had seen them drop into midtable.
But Abdoullah Ba's first goal in English football, scored on the quarter-hour mark at Carrow Road, was enough to see off play-off rivals Norwich. Sunderland had to withstand heavy pressure from the Canaries in the second half but they stood firm to keep a clean sheet.
And the victory lifted them to tenth in the table, and cut the gap between themselves and the play-off places to five points with ten games remaining. Sunderland are back in action on Wednesday night when second-placed Sheffield United visit the Stadium of Light.
