Sunderland gave Leeds United a lesson in how to win ugly as they came up with a smash and grab raid to leave the Whites nervously looking over their shoulders at relegation again.

After back to back 1-0 home defeats and with just one win in their last seven Premier League games Daniel Farke's men now desperately need to start winning again – but they could count themselves unlucky to have lost to a Sunderland side that had the dark arts off to a tee and were helped by out of his depth referee Stuart Attwell.

They were also hugely helped by VAR official Paul Tierney who alerted Attwell to a harsh penalty decision against Ethan Ampadu yet failed to take action when Luke O'Nien dragged Pascal Struijk down in the area by his neck.

Neither incidents appear to have been spotted by the hapless Attwell.

The Elland Road big screen shows the offside decision that saw Joe Rodon's "goal" disallowed against Sunderland.

placeholder image — The Elland Road big screen shows the offside decision that saw Joe Rodon's "goal" disallowed against Sunderland.

On a hugely frustrating night it took Leeds far too long to get going as they seemed to have a hangover from their big exertions against Manchester City at the weekend.

But Sunderland did not help with players throwing themselves to the floor to win free-kicks and hauling home players down every time they looked like getting free, without fear of yellow cards it seemed.

It was also hard to keep count of the number of times visiting players went down injured to break up play even more.

Very little of note happened in the first half as football struggled to break out, apart from an excellent Anton Stach free-kick that was well saved by keeper Melker Ellborg, who made a “remarkable” recovery from having treatment for an apparent injury in the 12th minute before he had hardly touched the ball. This, of course, allowed all the players to get some coaching on the sideline.

Joe Rodon was frustrated to have his big moment ruined by an offside decision picked up by VAR.

United had more intensity in the second half when they could get any flow, but it was still a struggle to create chances as the visiting back four dealt with most things thrown at them.

It appeared briefly that Leeds had gone ahead in the 64th minute when Joe Rodon headed home Stach's free-kick, but VAR correctly ruled that the home defender had been just offside.

Within a minute there was fury at the other end as on a rare Sunderland attack the ball hit Ampadu's arm from close range and it was deemed to have been deliberate to bring about a penalty.

Habib Diarra's spot kick was not well struck, but despite getting a touch on the ball keeper Karl Darlow could not keep it out of the net.

Ethan Ampadu had a frustrating evening after giving away the penalty that gave Sunderland their winning goal.

Ironically seconds earlier it looked Diarra could have been in trouble after he committed a foul after earlier being booked, but the VAR check made his actions redundant,

His effort was to prove Sunderland's only shot on target all night as they went into full rearguard and spoiler mode now.

Farke threw on all the forwards from his bench and his team gave it a good go, finally creating some chances.

Dan James' low cross just evaded an out of sorts Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jayden Bogle had a shot blocked and Willy Gnonto cut in dangerously from the left only to shoot wide.

Jaka Bijol came closest to snatching a point with a shot in a crowded box that was deflected and hit the post.

Bijol had another chance with a back header that was saved on his line by Ellborg and it was just one of those frustrating games.

Manager Farke bemoaned Leeds' luck with the big decisions and admitted his side had not been clinical enough.

He said: “Crazy decisions. Pascal Struijk should have been rewarded with a penalty then in the second half we were dominant, we score the first goal, the whole stadium is exploding and it's three inches offside.

“One minute later it was written in the stars that my most important player Ethan Ampadu with an instinctive movement with his arm gives a penalty away in a situation where it's not even a chance for them.

“But being self critical I have to say we have to be more brutal in front of goal. I can't really question the work load again or the performance and mentality, but we didn't show the quality to put the football into the net.

“It's really frustrating and annoying to lose this game. Sometimes it's difficult and tough to take. It's football sometimes.

“You're so, so dominant, more than 70 per cent possession. We knew we would face a very compact and competitive side, they're difficult to open. We had so many shots, set-pieces, we didn't give one chance away but somehow lost 1-0. Perhaps they are struggling to explain how they won.”

Farke added: "I think we were lacking a little clarity in the final third, the last concentration to play the last pass precise, to anticipate when the ball comes down, to be at the end and put the ball over the line was missing.

"It's a bit the topic in the last two games, we've created so many chances against Villa and City and haven't rewarded ourselves.”

Leeds United 0

Sunderland 1

(Diarra 70, pen)

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Premier League

Attendance: 36,713

Leeds: Darlow; Justin (James 74), Rodon, Struijk; Bogle (Bijol 83), Ampadu, Gruev (Nmecha 62), Gudmundsson (Piroe 83); Stach, Aaronson (Gnonto 74); Calvert-Lewin.

Sunderland: Ellborg; O'Nien, Alderete, Ballard, Hume; Geertruida (Xhaka 55), Sadiki, Le Fee; Angulo (Traore 88, Rigg 90+5), Diarra, Mayenda (Isidor 55).

Referee: Stuart Attwell