A bumper crowd of 38,395 packed into the Stadium of Light despite Sunderland being without a manager and on a poor run of form.
Yet Jermain Defoe’s second debut for the club was overshadowed by a deflating 2-1 defeat against bottom of the table Doncaster Rovers, a result which hammered another big dent into the Black Cats’ automatic promotion hopes.
And top-scorer Ross Stewart, who has notched 18 times so far this season, has now gone four matches without a goal.
Jay Matete was also brought on towards the end for his Sunderland debut after arriving from Fleetwood Town on deadline day.
Here, though, we take a look at the best photos of Sunderland fans throughout the day.
Can you spot anybody that you know? Let us know on our social media channels.
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1. Watching Sunderland at the SoL
A young Sunderland fan waits for the game to start at the Stadium of Light Photo: Martin Swinney
