Red Card and formations cause Sunderland's downfall to Middlesbrough.
With Sunderland looking for their third win in a row and a resurgent Middlesbrough looking for their fourth all statistics pointed to a close encounter in the early kick off at the Stadium of Light.
The first half proved as tight as expected with Sunderland pressing their attacking formula to the maximum and ‘Boro fighting to control the middle and flood forward on the counter.
The deadlock ultimately broke on a red card and Dan Ballard's face under a forearm smash as the first half ended in confusion and animosity.
When Sunderland emerged for the second half Mowbray had substituted Burstow for Aouchiche and opted for a defensive set looking to counter, but the Black Cats never got the chance.
With Mowbray’s formation inviting pressure, Sunderland were quickly overwhelmed and with no defenders to turn to on the bench they were quickly overwhelmed. At two- nil down and all too late Mowbray changed formation, but the game was put out of sight by Isiah Jones and a linesman who needs his eyesight checked
Quite why 10 men conceded 4 goals in 45 minutes is another question though. Take a look at the ‘Red Card ruin against Middlesbrough’ to take in an in-depth review of just what went wrong for Sunderland and where it leaves them.