West Brom 0-1 Sunderland: Black Cats beat 10-man Baggies at The Hawthorns
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Pierre Ekwah's goal for Sunderland was his fifth for the club and the first he has scored away from home
Sunderland surprised the play-off chasing 10 men of West Bromwich Albion to take a narrow away win at The Hawthorns in the Championship.
Baggies forward Brandon Thomas-Asante was sent off for two bookable offences late in the first half.
Four minutes later, Sunderland's Pierre Ekwah reacted first following a corner to smash the ball high into the goal.
West Brom stay fifth in the table, seven points inside the play-off places with three games left, with Sunderland 13th.
A cagey opening to the match saw very few clear chances created, with West Brom midfielder Alex Mowatt shooting over the bar from distance and Sunderland defender Luke O'Nien reacting brilliantly to clear the ball following a Baggies free-kick.
Moments later, another Mikey Johnston free-kick found the head of right-back Darnell Furlong, whose looping header was palmed away by Anthony Patterson in the Black Cats goal.
The big turning point came just as half-time was approaching, when Thomas-Asante received his second yellow card following a late challenge.
Before the half-time whistle could be blown, a corner kick fell straight to the feet of Ekwah, who reacted brilliantly to find the roof of the net.
Ekwah - whose previous four goals for Mike Dodds' side all came in home victories - nearly scored a second, but home keeper Alex Palmer kept hold of his rasping drive.
With the scoreline at 1-0, West Brom pushed to level it, but Jed Wallace was unable to reach an enticing cross and Matt Phillips' shot sailed wide.
Sunderland held on for just their sixth away win in 21 attempts in the Championship this season, completing their first league double over West Brom since the 2006-07 season.
West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio WM:
"I think that we have lost that game because we didn't manage well three aspects of the game.
"When we were playing 11 against 11, we need to play with more calm. We were forcing balls in behind that didn't help us to stretch them enough.
"We didn't know how to play with one yellow card. It's not the same as when you play without a yellow card.
"The last aspect was because we conceded one goal in one set-piece situation that we could have avoided."
Sunderland interim head coach Mike Dodds told BBC Radio Newcastle:
"The sending off is obviously a huge turning point in the game.
"Then obviously scoring so quickly after the sending off, I just felt if the group were really professional in terms of what we asked of them, if they are really diligent in terms of the moments, it was going to be a comfortable afternoon.
"I didn't feel like we needed to change a huge amount. They had one or two moments without actually getting to the goal.
"But we also have to be respectful. They are fifth in the league, they have got some real quality footballers. They are always going to have moments in the game."