LOFTUS Road may not have been the venue David Moyes would have envisaged his reign as Sunderland manager receiving lift-off when he took over in the summer, but he will hope the home of Queens Park Rangers certainly is now.

This was by no means a polished performance from the Black Cats, of the Premier League, who had fallen behind to their Championship counterparts when Sandro scored, and it seemed with half an hour to go that their EFL Cup run had reached a premature end.

But Sunderland, who have only picked up a point in the league so far and sit in the relegation zone once more after years of struggle, responded strongly and competently to edge through at Rangers’ expense.

Moyes was indebted to two goals from one of his first signings, Paddy McNair, ten minutes apart in the 70th and then 80th minute to book a place in the next round of the competition they reached the final of just two-and-a-half years ago.

Another trip to Wembley has seemed a long way off already this season, although McNair’s clinical double – after his £5.5m move from Manchester United along with Donald Love – brought some cheer to the 2,200 travelling fans.

Such a performance will not keep Sunderland in the Premier League, but at least they have had a victory – a second of the season following the earlier EFL Cup success over Shrewsbury – that they can look to start from ahead of back-to-back Premier League home dates with Crystal Palace and West Brom.

There was a positive sight from the start in West London. After the uncertainty of the last few days following Patrick van Aanholt’s late withdrawal from the starting line-up before the start of the Premier League fixture at Tottenham, the Dutchman was back in the thick of things.

The 26-year-old, after further tests, was passed fit and he wanted to play having had the worry of learning that his omission at Spurs was down to the results of a standard cardiology scan and he was soon called into action, dealing with a number of balls into his corner with confidence.

More surprising than his inclusion was the sight of £13.5m midfielder Didier Ndong down the right, enabling youngsters Duncan Watmore and Joel Asoro to form a strikeforce with a combined age of 39, as the replacement for suspended Adnan Januzaj.

But Ndong’s contribution in that role was impressive, often combing with right-back Jason Denayer as Sunderland looked to go on the offensive. Watmore, too, was lively and was close to being the first player to open the scoring.

His pace turned defence into attack when he laid off a pass for Ndong to run on to deep inside his own half. Eventually Watmore was handed possession back in the attacking third and he rounded a couple of home players before he forced goalkeeper Matt Ingram into a fingertip save low to his left.

Sunderland created more of the early chances but had to be wary at the other end of a Rangers team intent on making amends after back-to-back defeats in the Championship, including a 6-0 reversal to Newcastle on the same pitch a week earlier.

Had it not been for the alertness of Jordan Pickford and Denayer then QPR would have been in front after 22 minutes. Pickford made a fine stop from Abdenasser El-Khayati, who had been played in behind Papy Djilobodji, and Denayer was on hand to head over the bar from inside six yards when Connor Washington looked like he could nod in the rebound.

There were also a couple further chances for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s side before the break. Joel Lynch headed over at the back post when he should have hit the target at least, while midfielder Pawel Wszolek drilled a low shot a yard wide of Pickford’s right hand post.

Sunderland had been the brighter of the two teams going forward and Ingram had also been asked to make a second save low to his left when Jan Kirchhoff directed a volley towards his bottom corner. That had followed some neat play from Ndong near to the byline when he cut back and sent in a cross after working his way beyond Nicholas Hamalainen.

Moyes had to come up with a way of making Sunderland more creative and dangerous again in the second half, but his only attacking options on the bench were youngsters Josh Maja and Reece Greenwood because of the decision to completely rest Jermain Defoe.

There were no changes for the second half, but Sunderland still signalled their intentions by forcing three corners in the first two minutes. From one of those, McNair found himself able to shoot from the back post and it was dropping in after a deflection only for Lynch to head clear off the line.

Yet while Sunderland looked keen to make a positive start, Washington came within inches of scoring first. His header dropped just the wrong side of the far post after he nodded down Jordan Cousins’ pinpoint delivery from the left flank.

The QPR contingent didn’t have to wait much longer for the breakthrough. After Djilobodji had needlessly conceded a corner with a poor header, the flag-kick ended up dropping towards Sandro on just inside the box and he arched his body perfectly to volley inside Pickford’s bottom left corner.

Within ten minutes Sunderland had levelled, seconds after a triple substitution including teenage debutant Josh Maja. Watmore’s through pass picked out McNair, who had worked himself free to meet a return pass, and he rolled a tidy finish below Ingram.

Even better was to come for the travelling fans when he added his second ten minutes later. The Northern Ireland international powered a finish low beyond Ingram after Ndong had brilliantly broke free and saw a well driven shot destined for the far corner saved.

It might not have been straight forward, but Sunderland have a place in round four.