Sunderland 0-1 Barnsley

Ethan Pinnock now has five goals in his career - two for Barnsley and three for former club Forest Green Rovers

Sunderland slumped back into the relegation places as fellow strugglers Barnsley began 2018 by winning for the first time in 11 Championship matches.

Centre-back Ethan Pinnock scored for the second game in a row, heading home a corner early in the second half.

The visitors made a good start to the game with forward Mamadou Thiam rattling the crossbar from 25 yards.

Bryan Oviedo hit the post with a free-kick in reply, but Pinnock's goal was enough to give the Tykes three points.

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The win was only their third in an away game at Sunderland, and saw them complete a seasonal double over the Black Cats for the first time since the 1986-87 season.

Barnsley went into the game without winger Harvey Barnes, recalled early by Leicester from a season-long loan, but they looked the sharper side for much of the game as they moved up a place to 19th in the table, with the home side dropping to 23rd.

After Thiam's early effort, Lloyd Isgrove forced a fine save from Robbin Ruiter, and although Sunderland came close when Oviedo floated his free-kick over the wall and struck the woodwork, they badly missed injured 12-goal striker Lewis Grabban.

Pinnock's goal came after the home defence allowed Zeke Fryers' corner to bounce in the six-yard box, and Barnsley subs Tom Bradshaw and George Moncur both went close to a second before Jason McCarthy blocked an added-time Sunderland effort on the line to seal the win.

Sunderland manager Chris Coleman:

"Barnsley deserved it. They set the tempo a lot, were more aggressive and we looked nervous again at home.

"Even worse was the nature of the defeat and the goal we conceded was criminal. For someone to take a corner and let it bounce in the box, it was unforgivable to let that happen.

"It is not a great way to start the New Year. We got zero and deserved zero.

"If you are not going to play well, which we didn't, then you make sure get an ugly point. We buckled and I didn't think that would happen after the last game."

Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom:

"In the last few weeks I've been saying we've been wasteful and that we need a result, so we're delighted to get the win.

"We made it difficult for ourselves because we were wasteful, so I'm pleased - but there's still things we need to get better at.

"It's nice to score from a set-piece and the goal changed the dynamic of the game. It just shows how much you need to switch on at corners and free-kicks."