Sunderland 1-0 Leeds United

• Van Aanholt first-half strike separates sides

• Tie was repeat of 1973 final

• Leeds captain Cooper strikes post with header

• Jack Rodwell substituted with first-half injury

Patrick van Aanholt marked his return from injury with the winning goal as Sunderland beat Leeds in the FA Cup third round at the Stadium of Light.

The Dutch defender, 24, drilled a low left-foot shot past Leeds goalkeeper Marco Silvestri from the edge of the penalty area in his first start since November.

The scoreline was a repeat of Sunderland's 1-0 win in the 1973 final.

Leeds captain Liam Cooper hit the post in second-half injury time.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet made six changes to the side which lost 3-2 against Manchester City on New Year's Day as Van Aanholt returned from a shoulder injury.

Leeds manager Neil Redfearn gave debuts to defender Dario Del Fabro and striker Brian Montenegro.

Striker Steven Fletcher had a great chance to open the scoring for Sunderland but failed to keep a right-foot effort from inside the six-yard box under the bar.

Leeds midfielder Casper Sloth cleared a header from Santiago Vergini off the line, but it wasn't long before the opening goal.

Van Aanholt shot from the edge of the penalty area across the face of goal and found the bottom right-hand corner, off the inside of the post.

Leeds offered more threat in the second half. Striker Adryan was denied just after the restart by a save from the legs of Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.

The visitors were convinced they had a penalty when Charlie Taylor was fouled as he burst down the left wing, but referee Mike Dean gave a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area.

Fletcher was twice denied when he tried to double Sunderland's lead, first when a shot was ruled out for offside and then soon after when Silvestri palmed away a shot from 12 yards out.

Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell, who played just 16 league games for Manchester City from 2012-2014 after struggling with a hamstring injury, was substituted before half-time with what appeared to be a muscle strain.

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet: "We needed to win at home. It was quite embarrassing that we had played four or five months of football and had won only once, so it was time to win, to have the feeling that we can win at home.

"It was a decent performance in the first half, totally controlled. When you are in that situation, you need to put the game to bed, finish it, score two or three and make sure the second half is just a matter of controlling.

"We didn't do it and in the second half, Leeds had nothing to lose and they threw themselves forward, which of course created a little bit of nerves in the stadium."

Leeds manager Neil Redfern on referee Mike Dean not awarding his side a second-half penalty: "It looked a penalty to me.

"The referee made a decision and you have got to abide by that, but it came on the back of quite a weight of pressure when we were getting in and around their box well.

"A goal at that time to make it 1-1, I think we would have gone on to win it.

"In the second half, I thought we were the better side by a fair stretch. We turned it into a cup tie.

"We got at them and I thought they struggled with it and I thought we were really unlucky today."

Members of Sunderland's FA Cup-winning side from 1973 took to the pitch before kick off

Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell was substituted in the first half with an apparent muscle strain

Van Aanholt's first-half goal came on his return from a shoulder injury