Sunderland were able to snatch their first win of the Premier League campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over travelling Stoke City on Saturday.
The Black Cats went ahead through an inspirational Connor Wickham, only to see Stoke equalise through Charlie Adam's adroit finish.
However, a brace from Steven Fletcher saw Sunderland earn all three points, while the striker also ended his 2014 goal drought in the win at the Stadium of Light.
Here, Sports Mole rates all of the performances from the players involved in the encounter on Wearside.
© Getty ImagesSunderland
Goal
Vito Mannone: Commanded his box well and made two standout stops to deny a lively Peter Crouch. (7/10)
Defence
Billy Jones: Worked the flanks well and pressed intensely with the rest of his side. Booked in the second half though. (6/10)
Patrick van Aanholt: Fantastic performance from the young man. Showed experience beyond his years to read the game and thwart Stoke going forward. (9/10)
John O'Shea: Captained well from defence and used his experience to keep Crouch frustrated when battling alone up top. (7/10)
Santiago Vergini: Crucial interception late on to prevent Adam from delivering a great cross. Few too many needless fouls in the second half. (6/10)
Midfield
Lee Cattermole: Broke up play in a cultured way. Didn't give away too many fouls either. Sought to move the ball forward at every chance. (7/10)
Sebastian Larsson: Free kicks let him down a little. Though he showed good determination to press Stoke and produced a great run down the left that almost saw Fletcher score in the second half. (7/10)
William Buckley: Had a great first 45 minutes and gave Marc Muniesa a game he'll want to forget. (7/10)
Jordi Gomez: Gave the ball away far too much, but showed good delivery from the corner for Fletcher's first goal. (6/10)
Attack
Connor Wickham: A constant thorn in Stoke's side. Scored a well-taken goal and produced a superb run to establish all three points. (10/10)
Steven Fletcher: Clinical. Didn't let his lack of goals spoil his chances in the match. Took both of them adroitly. (9/10)
Substitutes
Jack Rodwell: Looked to break up play when he came on and did so effectively. Worked well with Fletcher to eek time out of the game. (7/10)
Adam Johnson: Didn't do much that Buckley hadn't already offered. (6/10)
Liam Bridcutt: Tenacious in midfield and helped to put the pressure on to allow Wickham to steal away and set up Fletcher's second goal. (7/10)
© Getty ImagesStoke City
Goal
Asmir Begovic: Couldn't have done much more this afternoon. Goals he conceded were unstoppable. (6/10)
Defence
Phillip Bardsley: Wasted the ball in good areas when going forward. Booked in the second half too. (6/10)
Marc Muniesa: Poor game from the Spaniard. He went forward at all the wrong times and left his defence open. Had no answer to Buckley either. (5/10)
Marc Wilson: Probably the best of the defensive bunch this afternoon, but marked poorly for all three of the goals. (6/10)
Ryan Shawcross: Again, failed to mark up for the goals and was taken out of the game by Fletcher's cross for Wickham's opener. (6/10)
Midfield
Glenn Whelan: Fairly anonymous in the fixture. Was there to break up the play, but was often left two steps behind the action. (6/10)
Marko Arnautovic: Probably the worst of the showings this afternoon. Looked uninterested and did nothing with the ball despite being given it by his expectant teammates all game. (4/10)
Victor Moses: Looked lively in the opening stages of the match and had a hand in Adam's goal. Substituted because of an injury and couldn't build from a promising start. (7/10)
Steven Nzonzi: Off the pace entirely. Gave the ball away sloppily and failed to win it back on a number of occasions. (5/10)
Charlie Adam: One of the only positives to take from the game was Adam's performance. Great going forward and looked to drive his team. Goal was fantastically taken too. (7/10)
Attack
Peter Crouch Did all he could and might have scored had it not been for the in-form Mannone. Needed support, which his manager failed to provide. (7/10)
Substitutes
Oussama Assaidi: Replaced Moses and did very little. Had a few bursts forward but was also booked in the second half for being petulant. (6/10)
Bojan Krkic: Introduced in the second half to try and carve out some opportunities. Still appears a little out of sorts in England. (6/10)
Jonathan Walters: Took the place of Crouch who got injured in the latter stages. Stoke lost any sense of enterprise following Crouch's departure. (6/10)
Christopher Dodd
