Two goals in as many minutes from Blackburn rocked Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this afternoon, as Mark Hughes' side rode a late storm to walk away with all three points.

Liam Miller came in as expected for the suspended Dickson Etuhu in midfield, while Nyron Nosworthy replaced Greg Halford in the back four after he recovered from his knee injury - and our defence were pressured early on, as David Bentley won a free kick early on after drawing a foul from Danny Collins, before David Dunn sent a 20-yard shot over the bar in the opening minutes.

Sunderland did enjoy some possession, but they were stuttering all over the park today as we saw Miller win then quickly lose the ball, before Grant Leadbitter provided our first real shot, with a long range effort being saved by Brad Friedel just before the quarter hour mark. Blackburn also had their moments, with Chris Samba stealing the ball from Kenwyne Jones before going on a 30 yard run that ended with a shot that went straight at Gordon.

Paul McShane gave away a harsh free kick on 26 minutes for a tackle on Bentley, but the resulting shot went straight towards the keeper, while Matt Derbyshire failed to capitalise on a poor clearance from Nyron Nosworthy ten minutes from the break as he sliced a shot wide. Michael Chopra got himself booked after he was judged to have dived at Friedel - a decision that incensed the crowd as referee Peter Walton spent most of the afternoon giving 50-50 decisions in Blackburn's favour.

Blackburn came out early for the second half, and it seemed that they had a plan in mind - and within ten minutes of the restart, it had paid off. On 53 minutes, Bentley had given the visitors the lead when Roque Santa Cruz's shot was blocked by Danny Higginbotham, allowing Bentley to convert the rebound from ten yards out. A minute later, a suicidal backpass from Higginbotham let in Brett Emerton, whose shot on goal was saved, only for the Aussie to get the ball back to cross in, where Santa Cruz headed in the second goal in as many minutes.

Sunderland were rocked by those quickfire goals, and Craig Gordon had to get down at the feet of Bentley to deny a third goal moments later after he had been put through on goal by Santa Cruz. Liam Miller blasted a shot over the bar as we tried to get back in the game, before Leadbitter's 25-yard free kick shortly after the hour mark needed two attempts from Brad Friedel before it was held.

Roy Keane made three changes, as Danny Murphy, David Connolly and Roy O'Donovan came on for Dwight Yorke, Ross Wallace and Michael Chopra, but it was Blackburn who did most of the pressing, despite us having four strikers on the pitch. David Bentley saw a free kick headed away by McShane, as the majority of the 41,000-plus crowd headed for the exits - but most of them started pouring back in in the final minute of normal time, as Grant Leadbitter fired a 20-yard effort past Friedel to set up a frantic finish.

However, the four minutes of injury time didn't produce any shots on goal as Blackburn wound the clock down to walk away with all three points.

Sunderland: Gordon, McShane, Nosworthy, Higginbotham, Collins, Leadbitter, Miller, Yorke (sub 66, Murphy), Wallace (sub 66, Connolly), Chopra (sub 66, O'Donovan), Jones. Subs: Ward, Harte.

Blackburn: Friedel, Samba, Ooijer, Warnock, Mokoena, Emerton, Bentley, Tugay (sub 75, Savage), Dunn (sub 86, Rigters), Derbyshire (sub 66, Gamst Pedersen), Santa Cruz. Subs: Brown, Khizanishvili.