Rotherham United 2-1 Sunderland: Struggling Millers edge Black Cats for first win in six games
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Shane Ferguson's third goal in six matches proved the matchwinner
Struggling Rotherham earned a precious win as they ended high-flying Sunderland's eight-match unbeaten away run.
The Millers went ahead when Ollie Rathbone ran unchecked towards the 18-yard box and sent a low left-footed drive across goalkeeper Anthony Patterson into the corner.
Shane Ferguson doubled the lead after the break, steaming forward to receive Tariqe Fosu's sweeping pass and plant a low finish in off the post.
Joe Gelhardt met Luke O'Nien's inch-perfect cross to head in from close range and halve the deficit, but Matt Taylor's side held on and almost scored a late third when Conor Washington steered a shot against the post.
A third win in 19 Championship outings lifted Rotherham up to 20th, five points clear of the relegation zone, but Sunderland will rue their luck at losing their five-match unbeaten league run, with Gelhardt seeing a finish ruled out for offside at 1-0.
Aji Alese also had a goal chalked off deep into stoppage-time for a foul on Millers keeper Viktor Johansson, who seemed to have been taken down by his own player, as the Black Cats dropped out of the play-off places and down to eighth.
Tony Mowbray's side responded well to falling behind and within minutes of Rathbone's opener, Alex Pritchard forced Johansson to tip his curling shot around the post, before the unmarked Dan Ballard headed inches wide from the subsequent corner.
The game sparked into life again early in the second half when Fosu's good work in midfield sent Ferguson away to score just moments after Gelhardt's offside effort.
The Leeds loanee's quick response, his first goal since joining the Wearsiders in January, extended the club's scoring run to 17 matches in all competitions and led to furious late pressure.
Waves of attacks almost told when O'Nien laid another cross onto Gelhardt's head, but he could only direct his effort straight at Johansson.
Rotherham United manager Matt Taylor told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"I thought we looked a good attacking team, but we were up against another good attacking team in Sunderland, hence the ebb and flow game with chances at both ends.
"I was really pleased with the attacking performance in the first half and when we scored early in the second half you're thinking 'can we go on and get a third and feel a bit more comfortable', but it was an excellent goal from their point of view.
"The biggest quality we showed for that last half-an-hour was a togetherness, a spirit, a will to defend that goal, by hook or by crook, and with a bit of luck at times we did that."
Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray told BBC Radio Newcastle:
"We've talked of learning curves, it was a big learning curve for us tonight. It took us until we went 2-0 down to begin to look like the team that we are.
"I've tried to rotate the last few games. There are players who have played almost every game just about and I tried to give them a breather, and yet it shows that for this team to function and win football matches in this league we need everybody to be at maximum.
"I think in the first half, particularly, we fell a little bit short of maximum even though we tried to get them ready for a super-intense game, but we have to accept it, congratulate Rotherham, lick our wounds and get ready for Saturday."