This is how Sunderland just sealed an emphatic and impressive win against Wycombe Wanderers

The Black Cats came through an early spell of pressure to surge into a two-goal lead through Ross Stewart and Elliot Embleton.

An accomplished second-half display yielded a worthy reward when Stewart scored his second, and though a deflected effort reduced the deficit late on, the result was never in doubt.

That Wycombe Wanderers had come into the side as one of the few still unbeaten in the division spoke to the test Sunderland would face.

The profile of Gareth Ainsworth’s side has changed significantly since their shock promotion, the starting XI now packed with League One experience and quality.

They started by far the brighter of the two sides, their five-man defence giving them an extra option on the ball as they built significant pressure.

The first-half chance fell their way, a good cross to the centre of the box from former Black Cat Josh Scowen nodded over the bar by Sam Vokes, who was falling backwards as he connected with the ball.

Sunderland were struggling to really build any spell of possession, too often forced to go long and straight back to their opponents.

They were fortunate that as the pressure was really rising, Joe Jacobson opted to take on an ambitious shot from over 30 yards when the pass into a dangerous area out wide was on.

It was a poor decision and within minutes, Sunderland had the lead.

Their first strong move had led to Dennis Cirkin firing a good cross to the near post, intercepted well by David Stockdale in the Wycombe goal.

Sunderland recycled possession and opened up the Wycombe defence as Lynden Gooch found Embleton. The attacking midfielder took one touch to set himself before curling a tremendous cross. Stewart towered above the two central defenders, thumping a header off the inside of the post and in.

Four minutes later, it was two.

A superb move, the hosts catching Wycombe out with a throw in deep on the right-hand side. Embleton and Gooch played an excellent one-two, before the former drove inside and curled a fine strike into the far corner.

Wycombe continued to see plenty of possession, and though they regularly fired balls into the box Sunderland were defending them relatively well.

Patterson had few saves to make after being given a significant vote of confidence to keep his place in the league XI, and when called upon he generally did well under the bombardment.

The Black Cats always looked a threat on the counter, and went close when Winchester and Gooch combined on the break down the right. The Northern Irishman drove to the edge of the area but the connection on his weaker foot was poor and drifted wide.

Sunderland went into the interval having unusually seen less possession than their opponents, though Wycombe having no shots on target reflected their inability to turn pressure into chances.

The Black Cats will also have felt that the visitors were fortunate to still have 11 on the pitch, given that Luke O’Nien had appeared to be struck by Daryl Horgan in an off-the-ball incident midway through the half.

Sunderland started the second half brightly, going close when Cirkin and McGeady combined well down the left.

After his initial effort was blocked McGeady fed the ball into the middle of the box, where Stewart found Winchester as he made an overlapping run. The right-back forced a decent stop from Stockdale with his effort, and underlined his growing confidence with a superb sliding tackle to snuff out the Wycombe counter-attacked that followed moments later.

The hosts forged a good chance shortly after as Gooch found space on the edge of the box, but Neil lost his footing just as he prepared to meet the pass inside.

Johnson’s side had controlled the stages of the half, showing a willingness to try and extend their lead rather than sit on it.

Wycombe were creating few chances, Patterson’s only intervention through the first 20 minutes to make a comfortable save when Vokes headed straight at him from a cross on the left flank.

A clever set piece routine did hand them a good opportunity to reduce the deficit, but Kaikai snatched at his chance inside the box and fired well over the bar.

Wycombe understandably turned to their bench and Adebayo Akinfenwa as Sunderland began to control possession, and the forward began to pose a different threat as the visitors went increasingly direct.

His ability to gather long balls and bring others into play remains as strong as ever, and the hosts were fortunate that fellow substitute Wheeler could only fire over the bar after gathering his pass with ten to play.

Akinfenwa forced a good stop from Patterson when he gathered another long punt forward, firing in an impressive volley on the turn.

Wycombe were asking questions when Sunderland looked to be in complete control, but they settled the contest with a superb break.

Neil pounced on a long ball and played a quick one-two with Embleton, before surging to the edge of the area. At the right moment he played Stewart in, and the Scot took one touch before firing into the roof of the net on his left foot.

Wheeler’s deflected effort prevented the Black Cats from a deserved clean sheet, but the points were already secure.

Sunderland XI: Patterson; Winchester, Flanagan, Doyle, Cirkin (Wright, 85); Neil, O’Nien; Gooch, Embleton (O’Brien, 85), McGeady (Pritchard, 85); Stewart

Subs: Burge, Huggins, Alves, Broadhead

Wycombe Wanderers XI: Stockdale; Mehmeti (Wheeler, 68), Grimmer, Tafazolli, Jacobson, Obita; Thompson, Scowen, Horgan; Kaikai (De Barr, 74), Vokes (Akinfenwa, 74)

Subs: Pryzbek, Dickinson, Pendlebury, Burley

Bookings: Scowen, 28 Flanagan, 77

Attendance: 29,344

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