SUNDERLAND 1 NEWCASTLE UTD 0
1. Tim Krul
4. Ryan Taylor
22. Daryl Janmaat
6. Mike Williamson
14. Jack Colback
11. Yoan Gouffran 58'
18. Jonas Gutierrez
7. Moussa Sissoko
20. Remy Cabella
17. Ayoze Perez
28. Sammy Ameobi 87'
Subs
8. Vurnon Anita
21. Rob Elliot
25. Gabriel Obertan
29. Emmanuel Riviere 58'
30. Mehdi Abeid
32. Adam Armstrong 87'
40. Olivier Kemen
Right from the first whistle Newcastle were on the back-foot, and any coach with a single brain cell in his head would have had Moussa Sissoko get into Lee Cattermole early doors.
You stop the engine room - you stop the team. But that ever happened in the course of the game.
Some talk about Sissoko being the man for the big occasion, having travelled the world with the French side, but he was out of his depth in a Tyne-Wear derby ONCE AGAIN!
Only once, when Ayoze Perez won two 50-50 tackles with Cattermole did I really think we could have the makings of decent result, then ten seconds later Sunderland scored.
It was a bad day for so many reasons, and the heroes of yester-year in this fixture (Peter Beardsley, Alan Shearer, Liam O'Brien, Scot Sellars, etc) must have been hiding under the bed.
John Carver was sat in the dug-out as coach for the last FOUR defeats, and he was front-line for this one.
The man isn't up to the job. PERIOD!
Jermain Defoe eased Sunderland's Premier League relegation worries and could possibly stick the Magpies in the mix.
Defoe lashed home a first-time volley on the stroke of half-time to secure a 1-0 victory that lifted Sunderland three points clear of the relegation zone with seven games remaining.
The win was Dick Advocaat's first success since replacing Gus Poyet as Sunderland head coach last month, and Newcastle were second-best throughout.
Carver's side recorded just one shot on target all afternoon as they slipped to a fifth successive defeat at the hands of Sunderland for the first time in their history.
Their previous home game against Aston Villa had seen the Mackems trailing by four goals at the interval, but their first-half display some three weeks on could hardly have been more different.
Brimming with pace and purpose from the off, Sunderland were the dominant side throughout the opening period, and while it took until the final moments of the half before they were able to make their superiority count, it was a lead they deserved.
Billy Jones's drive across the face of goal from Sebastian Larsson's seventh-minute corner forced the recalled Jonas Gutierrez into a stabbed clearance over his own crossbar, before another set-piece ended with Jack Colback nudging Connor Wickham's header off the line.
Wickham went close again five minutes before the interval, drilling in a near-post strike that Tim Krul gathered, before the deadlock was finally broken in first-half stoppage time.
Steven Fletcher cushioned a long ball from goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon into Defoe's path and the England international hit a dipping volley into the top-right corner of the net from 25 yards.
Newcastle were still to fashion their first chance of the afternoon at that stage, and for all that Carver had talked about matching Sunderland's intensity in the build-up to the game, the visitors were lethargic and devoid of ideas from the outset.
The ploy of fielding Jack Colback at left-back was a disaster. Not only was he missing in midfield - his best position - but he is clueless in that position ... and Sunderland knew it.
Fletcher twice exploited the gaps he left, and missed two glorious chances of making it 3-0.
Ayoze Perez found himself completely isolated in his lone striker role.
Colback flashed a low shot wide at the start of the second half, but Sunderland's superiority was never really tested and the hosts would have extended their lead shortly after the interval had Fletcher displayed a little more composure when he volleyed Jordi Gomez's cross weakly at Krul.
Fletcher, who scored a hat-trick for Scotland last week, looped a header straight at Krul on the hour mark, and wasted a glorious opportunity to make the game safe shortly after when he stepped inside Mike Williamson in the area, only to curl a wasteful shot well over the crossbar.
Newcastle finally recorded their first shot on target with 12 minutes left, Remy Cabella curling in a strike that was parried by Pantilimon.
And Perez spurned his side's best chance with two minutes remaining as he volleyed over from eight yards after Daryl Janmaat flicked on Ryan Taylor's corner.