Blackburn 2 Sunderland 0

The Black Cats crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Ewood Park, but both of Blackburn’s goals were hugely controversial with crucial decisions from the officials going against the visitors.

Ben Brereton Diaz’s 32nd-minute opener might have come courtesy of a wonderful first-time finish, but Sunderland’s players were rightly aggrieved by referee Craig Pawson’s decision not to award a penalty moments earlier when Jack Clarke’s legs were swept away by Ryan Hedges in the Blackburn box.

To compound their frustration, Scott Wharton headed home Rovers’ second goal from an offside position four minutes after the break, yet the assistant looking right along the line kept his flag down. Two decisions; two mistakes. And that was effectively that.

It can be argued that Sunderland’s failure to seriously threaten Thomas Kaminski in the Blackburn goal means they did not deserve to take anything from the game, but they more than matched a Rovers side ensconced in the play-off places for the vast majority of the 90 minutes and were by far the more purposeful team for much of the second half.

That they ended the game without Aji Alese, who became the latest addition to their injury list when he hobbled off after coming off worse from a 50-50 challenge, will only have compounded their frustration.

There will be nights like this in a league as tight and competitive as the Championship, but while they might have seen off Wigan at the weekend, the lack of a natural striker in the continued absence of Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms undoubtedly holds Sunderland back. Mowbray has done his best to plug the gap, but it remains a major issue.

The Sunderland head coach’s five-and-a-half years as Blackburn boss featured relegation, promotion and the gradual development of a predominantly youthful side that was assembled despite considerable financial restrictions.

It is the latter that no doubt made him such an appealing candidate to Kristjaan Speakman and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus as they searched for a successor to Alex Neil, and there are definite similarities between the rebuilding job Mowbray has been tasked with carrying out on Wearside and the work he conducted at Ewood Park. As the warm applause that greeted his emergence from the tunnel before kick-off last night confirmed, the general consensus is that his spell as Blackburn boss was a largely successful one.

That said, his former side are doing well enough without him, with their weekend win at Middlesbrough meaning they started last night’s game from a top-six spot. Like Sunderland, Jon Dahl’s Tomasson’s team is a largely youthful outfit, and with both sets of players galloping eagerly around the field, it was perhaps no surprise that the early stages saw the two sides cancelling each other out.

Neither team was able to muster an effort on target in the opening half-hour, although things might have been very different had Dennis Cirkin added to his weekend goal with another successful effort just two minutes in. The full-back advanced into the left-hand side of the area as he raced on to a pass from Jack Clarke, but dragged a low effort wide of the far post.

Alex Pritchard also failed to trouble the goalkeeper with a 22nd-minute effort, so it was Blackburn that finally found the target first shortly after the half-hour mark. In fact, they didn’t just locate the target, they also found the back of the net.

Brereton Diaz’s opener came courtesy of a brilliant first-time shot, but it was controversial effort because of the passage of play that preceded it. Clarke was adamant he should have had a penalty when Hedges swept his leg away as he turned on the edge of the box, and replays subsequently showed the Blackburn defender failed to make contact with the ball as he prevented Clarke from turning.

It should have been a spot-kick, but referee Craig Pawson allowed play to continue, and within less than a minute, Blackburn had swept down the other end to score. Danny Batth blocked Sam Gallagher’s effort from inside the area, but the ball broke towards Brereton Diaz, and the Chile international swept a superb first-time effort beyond Anthony Patterson’s right hand from 20 yards. In his pre-match press conference, Mowbray was warning of Brereton Diaz’s ability to conjure a moment of magic from nowhere. This was exactly that.

The build-up still left a bitter taste in the mouth from a Sunderland perspective though, and things did not got any better when Blackburn doubled their lead in equally controversial fashion four minutes after the break.

Wharton was standing in an offside position when Hedges whipped in a free-kick, so when he got the faintest of touches to glance a header past Patterson, the assistant’s flag should have been raised. Instead, it stayed down, enabling Wharton to wheel away in celebration as his effort was allowed to stand.

Sunderland rallied in an attempt to get themselves back into the game, but Batth had a header well saved by Thomas Kaminski and Clarke just failed to make contact as he attempted to sweep home a low ball from the left.

However, in looking to push forward, the Black Cats also left gaps at the back, and Sam Gallagher almost added a third Blackburn goal as he hooked a first-time volley wide following a cross from Callum Brittain.

As has become usual, Mowbray threw on his youngsters late on, and Jewison Bennette almost pulled a goal back when he fired in a strike that Kaminski saved.