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Sunderland - Sunderland bounced back from consecutive losses to inflict a 3-0 defeat on Blackburn Rovers on Saturday that lifted them to sixth place in the Premiership table.
Steve Bruce's side had fallen to Manchester United and Blackpool in their previous two outings, but the one-sided victory moved them to within four points of fifth-placed champions Chelsea, who have two games in hand.
Darren Bent ended a mini-goal drought with Sunderland's second goal, after Danny Welbeck had broken the deadlock, and such was the hosts' command of the game that the former Tottenham man could have had at least a hat-trick.
Bent left the fray in the 81st minute and his replacement Asamoah Gyan claimed the Black Cats' third, bending a delightful effort inside the far post from the edge of the penalty area.
There was a fortuitous touch to Sunderland's opener, with Welbeck's shot bobbling in via a big deflection off Ryan Nelsen, but it was of little concern to a Stadium of Light crowd that had seen their side fail to score despite 31 shots at goal in the 2-0 defeat by Blackpool on Tuesday.
Ahmed Al-Muhammadi's cross had led to Welbeck's goal and the Egyptian turned provider once again for the second goal in the 19th minute, curling in a delicious centre that Bent glanced home with his head.
It was the England striker's first goal in six games but he was responsible for a glaring miss on the hour mark when presented with an opportunity to double his tally.
A slick Sunderland move culminated with Kieran Richardson cutting the ball back to Bent, but he was unable to adjust his feet quickly enough and missed the target from just three yards.
El Hadji Diouf was guilty of a similar miscalculation in the first half, squandering the opportunity to bring Blackburn back into the game by diverting the ball off-target from close range after being picked out by Morten Gamst Pedersen.
Sunderland twice hit the woodwork as they pushed to stretch their lead.
Welbeck clipped a shot onto the top of the crossbar after dispossessing Pedersen in the 36th minute, while Jordan Henderson shuddered the bar with a long-range piledriver late on.
Blackburn were generally poor in possession and struggled to forge clear chances.
David Dunn came closest to scoring for the visitors, but his 25-yard effort shortly before the interval flashed a yard wide of the upright.
