Chris Rigg has scored four goals in 32 games for Sunderland
Teenager Chris Rigg scored the only goal as Sunderland beat Middlesbrough to maintain their place among the Championship's early pace setters.
Local boy Rigg, 17, settled the Wear-Tees derby with a quick-thinking backheel in the 24th minute after Patrick Roberts' shot had been blocked.
This was a fifth Championship win out of six games for the Black Cats and a third straight victory at the Stadium of Light, where they have yet to concede a goal this season.
Boro, whose best chance came when Tommy Conway headed against the bar early on, drop into mid-table and have picked up just one win from their past five league games.
These two sides were losing play-off semi-finalists in 2023, but slipped back last season. However, ambitions are high on Wearside and Teesside of mounting another promotion charge this term.
Nobody knew what to expect from French head coach Regis Le Bris when he was appointed in the summer, so four wins from their opening five Championship matches was a very pleasant surprise for Mackems.
A return of eight points from their first five games was slightly under par for Boro, given that head coach Michael Carrick has kept all his key men, but they are still trying to fit the jigsaw pieces together.
A warning from last season is that they were never in the top six at any stage after a poor start, so playing catch-up is not easy in such a competitive division.
Le Bris had said in the build-up to this game that this occasion was not the "real derby", but the hectic start suggested it mattered a great deal in front of the Championship's biggest crowd of the season, 42,781.
Both teams could have scored inside the first seven minutes as first Scotland forward Conway headed against the top of the bar from Isaiah Jones’ cross, but he really should have found the net.
Then Eliezer Mayenda burst through the heart of the Boro defence, but was crowded out by Luke Ayling as he attempted to shoot inside the area.
Emmanuel Latte Lath was then cleaned out by Trai Hume on the edge of the box, for which he was booked. Although if VAR was in operation, the challenge would definitely have been reviewed.
But it was local boy Rigg who sent the stadium into raptures. Roberts' shot was blocked by a sliding George Edmundson, but with goalkeeper Seny Dieng having dived in anticipation of a curling effort to the far corner, the teenager was fastest to react and found the net with a backheel from a tight angle.
Hailing from the Sunderland heartland of Hebburn, Rigg will know everything about where this fixture sits in the north east football landscape judging by his celebration.
As a breathless half came to an end, the Black Cats were appealing for a penalty as Romaine Mundle went down in a challenge with Ayling.
With home fans unhappy, Boro should have levelled as Jones lifted the ball to Latte Lath, but the striker lifted his effort over Anthony Patterson but wide of the net.
Terrific response
The second half was far tenser. Roberts was unlucky to see his curling effort go past the post before Boro's United States international midfielder Aidan Morris found space for himself excellently in the box but lost composure and screwed his shot wide.
Mundle rattled the post with a free-kick which would have made the game safe, but the Sunderland defence repelled everything that came at them in the closing stages.
Having lost their 100% record last week at Plymouth Argyle, this was a terrific response from the Black Cats.
It could be an early indicator that Le Bris' side are capable of sticking around near the top of the Championship in the months ahead.
'Our mindset was very good' - reaction
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris told BBC Radio Newcastle:
"We needed to solve many problems during the game against this opponent, especially our left side when they had overloads.
"I felt that the team wanted to work together to find the solution. In possession, we had an interesting first half but the second half was more difficult because the momentum was against us.
"But our mindset was very good today."
Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick said:
"It was pretty close but I thought if anything, we were the better team. We had more play around their box, more shots in general.
"Apart from their goal, I thought we limited them to a few individual moments. But we had the first big chance and then it was a 100% red card on Emmanuel.
"They are two big moments and we are finding that the longer it goes, teams are defending very deep with a lot of numbers and we’ve got to face that challenge to break teams down."
