Sunderland's defeat in the Tees-Wear derby was a stark reminder of how brutal life in the Championship can be. With the scores locked at 0-0, Alex Pritchard squandered a golden opportunity to give the Black Cats the lead, an opportunity that would prove costly come the final whistle.
Middlesbrough would control the game for large parts with Anthony Patterson being called into action on a number of occasions to keep the scoreline down. There was nothing the young shot stopper could do with Riley McGree's first-half strike - a result that lifted the hosts out of the bottom three.
Ross Stewart limped out of the warm-up to inflict an early blow to Tony Mowbray's side before a ball had even been kicked. In truth, Sunderland were unable to bounce back from that and struggled in the final third all evening.
