Sunderland played host to Hull City at the Stadium of Light this afternoon looking to build on a string of positive results under Gus Poyet.
The match began in the worst possible fashion for them as Wes Brown was shown a red card in the fourth minute, and Shane Long fired the victors in front shortly after.
Hull put the game beyond the 10 men of Sunderland in the second period when former Everton striker Nikica Jelavic opened his account for his new club with just over an hour gone.
Find out how all the action unfolded with our minute-by-minute text commentary below.
Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Premier League showdown between Sunderland and Hull City, two sides that have experienced contrasting fortunes of late.
Both sides head into the match on 24 points, with Hull sitting one place above their opponents in 13th courtesy of a superior goal difference, but the Black Cats are one of the Premier League's form teams at the moment.
Sunderland have enjoyed a great resurgence under Poyet, climbing from bottom of the table to within three points of the top half within three short months. Hull, however, have had a tough time of late.
Steve Bruce's side have won just once in their last 10 matches, a run if form that has undone most of the good work they did at the beginning of the season, but they did halt a four-match losing streak with last week's draw against Spurs.
Team news on the way...
SUNDERLAND: Mannone, Bardsley, Alonso, Bridcutt, O'Shea, Brown, Ki, Colback, Johnson, Borini, Altidore
HULL Harper, Rosenior, Figueroa, Davies, Meyler, Huddlestone, Livermore, McShane, Jelavic, Long, Elmohamady
Poyet has kept the faith in the starting XI that thrashed city rivals Newcastle United 3-0 last weekend, and who can blame him? The Black Cats are no doubt still on a high after knocking Manchester United out of the League Cup to reach the final of the competition a couple of weeks back.
Just the one change for Hull, who bring in Jake Livermore in place of Robbie Brady, who drops to the bench alongside the returning Sone Aluko.
Hull's recently-recruited strikeforce of Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic will provide their goal threat today. The former opened his account for his new club last weekend, but the latter has not found the net in almost 16 hours of top flight football!
The Tigers don't have the greatest of records against Sunderland, but did defeat them at the KC Stadium in the reverse version of this fixture to claim their first win over today's opponents since April 1990.
That 1-0 reverse in Hull was a match to forget for Sunderland supporters. On an afternoon where nothing went right for the Black Cats, Andrea Dossena and Lee Cattermole were both sent off and an own goal by Carlos Cuellar sent them home empty-handed.
The form guide suggests that a repeat of that result may be unlikely, as Sunderland have rediscovered their scoring touch under Poyet. They have notched up 10 goals in their last four games, which is more than they managed in their first 13 matches of the current campaign.
Tensions are sure to be running high at the Stadium of Light this afternoon, with Hull manager Steve Bruce returning to his old stomping ground, as are three members of his starting XI - Ahmed Elmohamady, Paul McShane and David Meyler.
PREDICTION: With Sunderland having lost just once in nine matches, I can't see them losing at home to an out-of-form Hull. I'm going with 2-1 for the home side, with Adam Johnson in among the goals.
Johnson has found the net in the last four matches, racking up a tally of six goals during that spree. A win for Sunderland today would make it three victories in a row for them for the first time since February 2012.
Defeat for Hull today would spell their worst run since losing six on the spin in April 2012. Their away record doesn't bode well either, going nine without a win in the top flight.
It's all been downhill for Bruce and co since that emphatic 6-0 win over struggling Fulham in December, with the Tigers managing just one goal in five matches since.
Both sets of players are heading out onto the pitch now. Stay with us for minute-by-minute updates on the game!
KICKOFF! We're under way here at the Stadium of Light! Sunderland are kicking from left to right in the first half.
Hull are the first to venture forward as Maynor Figueroa attempts to play a through ball to Shane Long, but his teammate is caught offside. Adam Johnson wins a free kick for Sunderland at the other end of the park, but the Black Cats squander it and Hull have the chance to break.
RED CARD! Wes Brown is given his marching orders after taking on Long on the edge of the Sunderland box. He was late with the sliding tackle and was the last man, so the referee had no option but to reach for red! What an explosive start to the game!
SHOT! Tom Huddlestone lifts the free kick over the wall and attempts to beat Vito Mannone to his left, but the Italian parries the shot and pounces on the rebound.
There's a nasty clash of heads between Fabio Borini and Liam Rosenior. The Liverpool loanee goes down and looks in some pain, but is soon on his feet and raring to continue.
Sunderland's numerical disadvantage is not showing at the moment. They're knocking it about with confidence and maintaining possession. Hull defender Rosenior has just been booked for dangerous play.
SUBSTITUTION: Poyet takes off Borini and hands a Premier League debut to Santiago Vergini. This is a purely tactical switch following Brown's dismissal, so you have to feel for Borini, who looks disappointed to be leaving the pitch.
England manager Roy Hodgson has been spotted in the stands here at the Stadium of Light, likely monitoring Adam Johnson, who has done his chances of inclusion in the Three Lions' World Cup squad with his recent performances.
SAVE! Great save from Vito Mannone, who gets a strong hand to Jake Livermore's strike from just inside the area, turning it behind for a corner to Hull.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Hull City (Shane Long)
The Sunderland defence fail to deal with the corner and the ball falls to Livermore outside the box. He plays it back into the danger zone and Long heads home from close range! Hull a goal and a man to the good here!
Santiago Vergini concedes another corner under pressure from Jelavic, but Huddlestone's cross is cleared more convincingly this time, the ball eventually ending up in the arms of Mannone.
Sunderland look in a real predicament here as they are struggling to get the ball upfield with 10 men. Jozy Altidore hasn't gotten much service so far, in what is shaping up to be a frustrating afternoon for him.
CLOSE! Nikica Jelavic comes within inches of opening his account for Hull as he gets his head to a looping cross from Elmohamady inside the box. The reliable Mannone comes to Sunderland's rescue, tipping the Croatian's effort onto the post. The move breaks down as Elmohamady strays offside.
Brown's dismissal has had a huge impact on this match, which is a shame because I think we'd have a good game on our hands if it was 11 against 11.
OFF THE POST! Shane Long curles an effort against Mannone's right post from out of nowhere! The Irishman takes it on the turn and shoots from almost 30 yards away, his effort beating the Sunderland keeper, but not the woodwork!
Sunderland force Hull onto the back foot, maintaining possession in the final third and stringing plenty of passes together there, but the attack breaks down as Liam Bridcutt's pass fails to find Marcos Alonso.
A change at half time could be what Sunderland need as this side does not look capable of breaking Hull down. Adam Johnson is being marked out of the game and Jozy Altidore has been frozen out completely.
Phillip Bardsley produces a vital block in front of goal to keep out Nikica Jelavic. Liam Rosenior played a low pass across the face of goal to the Croatian, but Bardsley beat him to it to keep the deficit down.
BOOKING! Jake Livermore is shown the yellow card for clattering into Jack Colback. It's a somewhat ill-tempered affair here. If Hull were to go a man down themselves, it would surely even things up.
SHOT! A masterful volley from Adam Johnson might have drawn Sunderland level had it not been straight at Steve Harper. Maynor Figueroa's header fell kindly for the winger, who struck the ball sweetly and get plenty of power behind it, but failed to trouble Harper.
Two minutes of stoppage time to be played.
BOOKING! Liam Bridcutt is the next player to go into the book for going in dangerously on Livermore. Hull take the free kick quickly, but squander possession.
HALF TIME: Sunderland 0-1 Hull City
Hull's first away Premier League goal for almost six hours has given them a 1-0 lead over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. It was Shane Long who found the net for them, but the sending off of Wes Brown has proven almost as damaging for Gus Poyet's side.
There's still another 45 minutes of football to come, but the Black Cats will surely have to regroup to stand any chance of getting back into this one.
They have striker Connor Wickham on the bench to turn to. He could be just what they need to apply some pressure in the second period, but Poyet will have to be mindful about leaving his defence exposed given that they are a man down.
If you've just joined us, you can get yourself up to speed on all of the action from the first half with our half-time report here.
Hull are certainly deserving of their half-time advantage. They have been creative in midfield through Huddlestone and Elmohamady, while Long has been a constant thorn in Sunderland's side.
KICK OFF: We're back under way here. Hull have made a change at the break, throwing on Robert Koren for Liam Rosenior, who had a decent first half but may have taken a knock.
Hull are the quickest off the starting blocks in the second period, applying pressure through a Tom Huddlestone free kick taken from just outside the area. The Sunderland defence make short work of the cross this time.
Sunderland carve out an attack with Jozy Altidore chasing down a long ball from his goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Several of his teammates push forward to support him, but they are outnumbered by Hull players and the move is stopped in its tracks.
Robert Koren smashes an effort over the crossbar from outside of the box following a Huddlestone corner. The Tigers had plenty of men in the box there, clearly pressing for that second goal that would put them firmly in the driving seat.
SAVE! Steve Harper is called into action for the first time, pulling off a decent save to tip Ki Sung-Yueng's deflected effort behind for a corner. Liam Bridcutt showed great vision to pick out the South Korean, but the former Newcastle goalkeeper was equal to the effort.
CHANCE! David Meyler threads a pass through to Jelavic, whose first touch is good but his finish poor. The Croatian attempted to drag his shot across Mannone into the bottom corner, but it goes well wide of the far post.
BOOKING! It hasn't been a very positive few minutes for Jelavic as he has now been booked for a lunge on Alonso. He pushed the Sunderland man to the ground there and can have no complaints about finding himself in the ref's notebook.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-2 Hull City (Nikica Jelavic)
Well done Nikica Jelavic! Just as it was beginning to look like an afternoon to forget for the former Everton man, he goes and opens his account for Hull with a superbly-taken header!
Figueroa supplied the cross from wide on the left, and Jelavic took advantage of slack defending from the hosts to place a bullet header beyond Mannone and make it 2-0.
Little has changed in this second half in terms of possession. Sunderland are still struggling to get the ball upfield and Hull look like penetrating their defence whenever they stage an attack. Steve Bruce's side look a dead cert for three points this afternoon.
SUBSTITUTION: Craig Gardner replaces Ki Sung-Yueng in the Sunderland midfield as Poyet looks to bring some balance to this shaky team.
Connor Wickham is preparing to come on for Sunderland in what will be their third and final change.
SUBSTITUTION: We have confirmation of that change as the former Sheffield Wednesday loanee comes on to replace Liam Bridcutt. Poyet is rolling the dice here and going with two up front, at the risk of conceding more goals.
SUBSTITUTION: Hull make a change now, taking off one of their goalscorers, Jelavic, who makes way for Sone Aluko.
Half-chance for Hull as Long a latches onto a pass from Aluko, gets goalside of his marker and unleashes a shot, which ends up in the stand. Aluko has an effort of his own tipped behind by Mannone moments later.
Hull continue to ask all of the questions as the game enters its closing stages. They are keeping hold of possession deep inside the Sunderland half, not allowing the hosts to get so much as a look in.
Sunderland given the chance to make a game of it was Wickham goes down on the edge of the box under the challenge of Curtis Davies, but Gardner's free kick hits Long clean in the face and bounces clear.
SUBSTITUTION: Shane Long goes off to an ovation from the away supporters and Robbie Brady comes on in his place. Long is looking like money well spent for the Tigers!
The referee's assistant indicates that there will be three minutes of stoppage time to play as the home supporters begin go leave the stadium in droves.
FULL TIME: Sunderland 0-2 Hull City
It's a rare away win for Sunderland and a happy return to the Stadium of Light for Steve Bruce as goals from Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic give him a 2-0 win over his former employers.
Wes Brown's sending-off in the first half no doubt proved pivotal, with Hull making their numerical advantage count and taking their chances well. You can read our full match report here.
That's all we've got time for tonight, but stick around for match analysis and fallout from today's game. Thanks for reading!
Written by
Mark Langshaw
Mark Langshaw
