Sunderland won the Wear-Tyne derby 1-0 after a Nick Woltemade own goal

It was a game that never felt like it would be settled by a moment of quality. From the start it was a scrappy, cagey affair and yet by the end, there was no argument that Sunderland were not worthy winners.

They had enjoyed a huge slice of luck early in the second half as Nick Woltemade headed a cross from Nordi Mukiele in off the underside of his own crossbar, but they limited a strangely flat Newcastle United side to next to nothing throughout the contest.

The visitors will leave feeling they had ceded few chances, but Sunderland played with the resilience and intensity that has carried them so far in recent months. They had the better chances, gave up little, and defended resolutely late on. It was an afternoon to top a year most fans would have scarcely believed possible.

Perhaps inevitably given the stakes involved and the tension of the build up, the opening exchanges were as cagey on the pitch as the atmosphere was ferocious off it.

Newcastle United perhaps surprised Sunderland slightly in their approach, dropping fairly deep and sitting off the game. Le Bris's decision to revert to a back four gave him an extra player in the middle of the pitch and that meant that by and large they kept the ball with relative ease, but Newcastle were asking them to produce quality to unlock them and they weren't really able to do so for the most part.

Newcastle's plan was clearly to try and spring their wide players forward on the break, but neither made much of an impression through the first half. Anthony Gordon was left incandescent when Nick Woltemade spurned the chance to play him in when left in acres of space, after Alderete had dithered on the ball not for the first time in a cagey start to his game. It was Sunderland, though, who had the best early moment when Newcastle dropped into the box to defend a free kick from deep. Xhaka instead took it short, and Traore whipped in a gorgeous cross on the outside of his boot. There was no Sunderland player there to meet it but Malick Thiaw swung a foot and was fortunate to turn it just wide of his own near post.

The game was slowed towards the break as Dan Burn received lengthy treatment and was then brought off after a late challenge from Nordi Mukiele, and the full back being on a yellow card at the break was one of the few areas of concern for an otherwise relatively comfortable Sunderland side. They had another chance before the break when Xhaka curled a cross to the back post, Ballard rising highest but heading over the bar.

Sunderland had shaded the first half but in truth it had been a poor one overall, and Newcastle could reasonably counter that they had ceded very little from Sunderland's possession. Roefs, other than one or two moments where had to be quick off his line to snuff out a pass, had been a bystander.

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Sunderland were rewarded for an enterprising start to the second half, quicker to the initial second balls and dominant in the aerial duels. They had an opportunity for a long throw after smart work from the impressive Traore, and though Newcastle cleared it the hosts were able to recycle possession. Mukiele whipped in an excellent cross to the near post and though he didn’t find anyone in red and white, Nick Woltemade could only head the ball into his own net off the underside of the crossbar.

The Black Cats had lift-off, and dominated the exchanges that followed. Eddie Howe had seen enough, making a triple substitution and replacing both of his wingers. The Newcastle game plan had been to try and find them on the break but Reinildo and Mukiele had dominated their relative battles - Barnes and Murphy had to change that in the final half an hour.

What followed was Newcastle’s best spell of the game, Sunderland dropping into their deep block and for the first time Bruno able to get on the ball and dictate proceedings. He worked space on the edge of the area on a couple of occasions, though his efforts were dealt with easily by Roefs. Sunderland looked to be lacking a little bit of energy, Le Bris quickly bringing on Hume and Isidor and reverting to a back five.

Though the final stages would have felt like agony for Sunderland fans, the truth was that Roefs never had another save to make. Sunderland defended their box as well as they have done all season and all year, every inch worthy of the three points.