Derby County fell to a 2-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light as opponents Sunderland went top of the Sky Bet Championship table on Tuesday night.
Goals either side of half-time saw the hosts take a two-goal lead, which they refused to yield.
Jobe Bellingham’s long-range effort was followed by Wilson Isidor’s strike in the second period.
A goalmouth opportunity for Curtis Nelson and a quickfire double-chance for Eiran Cashin and Craig Forsyth late on in the second half saw the Rams go close, but the hosts held on to take all three points.
Some lively wing-play between Kenzo Goudmijn and Kane Wilson early on created the Rams’ first chance, as Derby’s wing-back beat his man on the flank and found Marcus Harness in the box to shoot. However, the attacker’s strike was blocked by a defender in front of Anthony Patterson in the home goal.
After an extended period of possession for the home side, Jacob Widell Zetterström had to be alert in the Derby goal in the 23rd minute as Sunderland captain Dan Neil teed up Romain Mundle for a low strike inside the penalty box. The Swedish shot-stopper got down to the ball to deny the attacker.
Mundle was the one looking to create for the home side moments later when his backheel set up Dennis Cirkin to cross the ball to Bellingham, who emerged in the box. The midfielder found some space but headed just wide.
After a break in play, as Zetterström received treatment, one-time Rams loanee Patrick Roberts received the ball on the wing and slotted a pass to Mundle running in from the other side of the pitch. The winger side-footed the ball and sent it wide of the post.
With Sunderland holding control of the game, Derby’s front three of Yates, Harness and Tawanda Chirewa applied pressure and looked to catch out the Wearside outfit. This pressure nearly told as Harness and Yates took the ball in the middle of the park, but Derby couldn’t find the killer ball to create a clear-cut chance.
The deadlock was broken in the 40th minute as Bellingham lashed a shot from 18 yards out that Zetterström could do nothing about, to put Sunderland in front.
A high ball into the box by Ben Osborn was taken on the bounce by Chirewa just before half-time. The Zimbabwe international knocked the ball into the box and unleashed a shot to the near post, but Black Cats goalkeeper Patterson stood tall to parry the ball away from danger.
The half-time whistle blew with the hosts 1-0 up as a tenacious display in the first period from the Rams was undone by Bellingham’s strike.
Isidor doubled the lead in the 55th minute, as Mundle picked out the Frenchman in the box from the left to tap home.
Head Coach Paul Warne made the Rams' first changes after the hour mark with Craig Forsyth, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Kayden Jackson and Corey Blackett-Taylor replacing Chirewa, Yates, Osborn and Harness.
Blackett-Taylor was in action straight away, as he received a short corner and beat two defenders to shoot from a tight angle, but Patterson's body was behind the ball to quash the danger.
An overlap from Wilson in the 67th minute looked to put Jackson in on goal, but the pass proved too heavy as Patterson was alert, coming off his line to sweep up the ball.
Cashin and Forsyth both came close to narrowing the lead, in quick succession, in the 73rd minute. Goudmijn fought for the ball on the wing after a corner went beyond the penalty box. The Dutchman whipped the ball towards Cashin but was denied by the goalkeeper before Forsyth’s follow-up header went just wide.
Mendez-Laing fired an enticing ball across the face of the goal in the 78th minute for Blackett-Taylor to reach, but the Rams' winger was taken off balance by his marker and couldn’t make the connection to finish.
The Rams took the game into seven minutes of injury time pushing for a way back into the match, but Sunderland saw the game on confidently to take all three points.
Sunderland: Patterson, Mepham, Hume, Cirkin, Neil (C), Bellingham, Roberts (Poveda 75 (Watson 85), Rigg (Browne 75), O’Nien, Mundle, Isidor (Rusyn 85).
Unused Substitutes: Moore, Ba, Aleksić, Hjelde, Johnson.
Derby County: Zetterström, Wilson, Nelson, Phillips (Nyambe 75), Cashin (C), Goudmijn, Adams, Osborn (Mendez-Laing 65), Chirewa (Forsyth 65), Harness (Jackson 65), Yates (Blackett-Taylor 65).
Unused Substitutes: Vickers, Bradley, Collins, Brown.
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Assistant Referees: Daniel Leach, Paul Hodskinson
Fourth Official: Thomas Parsons
Derby will return to Pride Park Stadium on Saturday 5th September to play Queens Park Rangers (3pm kick-off) in the final fixture before the October international break.
