Sunderland took the lead inside four minutes when debutant Ellis Simms, on loan from Everton, opened the scoring.
The hosts drew level six minutes later through Andi Weimann, before Chris Martin put the Robins ahead.
Simms then added a second, allowing Ross Stewart to head home the winner 18 minutes from time.
Sunderland will now prepare for this week’s trip to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, with the Black Cats set to face QPR in their next Championship fixture at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.
Here, we take a look at Sunderland’s predicted final position and points total courtesy of data experts FiveThirtyEight:
1. Watford (1st)
Watford are expected to finish in 1st position in the Championship on 85 points at the end of the 2022-23 season by data experts FiveThirtyEight. Photo: Marc Atkins
2. Norwich City (2nd)
Norwich are expected to finish in 2nd position in the Championship on 81 points at the end of the 2022-23 season by data experts FiveThirtyEight. Photo: Pete Norton
3. Sheffield United (3rd)
Sheffield United are expected to finish in 3rd position in the Championship on 80 points at the end of the 2022-23 season by data experts FiveThirtyEight. Photo: Cameron Smith
4. Burnley (4th)
Burnley are expected to finish in 4th position in the Championship on 77 points at the end of the 2022-23 season by data experts FiveThirtyEight. Photo: Ashley Allen