West Bromwich Albion produced a superb second-half comeback to beat Sunderland and climb out of the Championship relegation zone

Amad Diallo’s penalty in the 19th minute gave Sunderland a deserving 1-0 lead after dominating the first half. But in the 70th minute, Tom Rogic equalized for the Baggies by curling the outside of his boot. Daryl Dike, a fellow replacement, capped the comeback by heading in a cross from Jed Wallace to give West Brom their fourth straight victory. Sunderland lost the opportunity to climb up to the seventh place and within one point of the playoffs because of injuries to Dike and Rogic, who both scored their first goals for the visitors.

Corberan’s Baggies bouncing back

The Championship is so close this year that West Brom is now only eight points off of the top six with one game remaining. One point away from safety, they had begun the day in 22nd place.

The Baggies under Carlos Corberan are a different team than the one that won only two of their first 17 games. The team has since defeated Blackpool, QPR, Stoke, and the Black Cats since the Spaniard’s loss to Sheffield United at the end of October in his inaugural match as manager.

In the first half, West Brom lacked a decisive edge in front of goal, but they significantly improved in the second as Matt Phillips and Rogic forced excellent saves from Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.

With 20 minutes left, Australian Rogic equalized the score by scoring his first goal in English football since leaving Celtic last summer. Dike then secured all three points with a thunderous header, only appearing in his third match of the year after suffering a thigh injury in the first encounter.

A tale of two penalty shouts for Sunderland

At the full-time whistle at a chilly and icy Stadium of Light, a small portion of the crowd booed the defeat, which continued Sunderland’s patchy performance.

After being hauled down by a reckless Conor Townsend charge, Manchester United loanee Diallo was once again a shining light for the hosts, scoring his fifth goal in seven games from the penalty spot. Before Dike’s winning goal, Diallo may have been given another penalty after he crossed the line twice in the box, but referee James Linington waved the lay-on.

After Tony Mowbray’s squad fell behind, they were unable to mount another effective attack on his old team. On Saturday, Sunderland and West Brom will each play again. The Baggies will host Rotherham as the Black Cats travel to Hull City.

‘We were suffering but we stuck together

“A discouraging evening for us. We must face the situation where we must safeguard a lead. We attracted pressure because we sat too deep and didn’t support ourselves. This team needs to play aggressively at this stadium. We gave West Brom too much time on the ball, and they have some very good players for this level. In the end, it frustrates us.

“This sets us back a little bit when we’re so close to being excellent. There will be happier times ahead. These kinds of days must serve as a lesson for us. Sunderland was the superior team for the first 15 minutes, but after that, we found our balance and in the second half, we outperformed them.

“We have a strong team of players to take the victory. I believed we could win the game after scoring our first goal, and the guys’ attitude was excellent.

“We succeeded in getting the outcome we desired. We were struggling, but we stayed together and triumphed as a team. We have won the last four games thanks to that mindset. Report and free video highlights from West Brom’s victory over Sunderland in the Sky Bet Championship at the Stadium of Light thanks to goals from Daryl Dike and Tom Rogic, both of whom came on as substitutes.

At the Stadium of Light, Amad Diallo’s penalty kick gave the Black Cats the lead. However, the Baggies came back with goals from substitutes Tom Rogic and Dike, who set up his teammate for the equalizer before heading in the winning goal with seven minutes remaining.

West Brom’s fourth straight victory under Carlos Corberan propelled them out out of the relegation zone and up to 17th place. Meanwhile, Sunderland lost the chance to move up to eighth. They are still ranked 11th overall. On their return to Championship play, Diallo scored the game’s first goal against Millwall last week.

On Monday night, the Manchester United loanee scored the game’s second goal in the 19th minute. He rushed in from the right and forced Conor Townsend into a careless mistake in the box before stepping up to send Alex Palmer the wrong way. Sunderland’s previous 29 goals this season had all come from open play; this was their first goal from a set piece.

Rogic scored the equalizer on the stroke of 70 minutes after Dike pulled the ball back for him on the edge of the box and finished superbly low into the bottom corner. Corban made substitutions in the second half to try to get his team back into the game. On 83 minutes, Dike, who was similarly assisted by Rogic, scored his first goal for the team by powering a header in from close range after being superbly set up in the box by Jed Wallace.

Tony Mowbray of Sunderland: “It’s frustrating. Not for the first time, it has happened before. It truly comes down to experience and team mentality to not attempt to protect what you have and instead be more optimistic up front.

“In the end, we went too far attempting to hold onto our lead. Through Alex Pritchard, we had a fantastic opportunity to go up 2-0, and that is the way we need to play. To keep the fans interested, we must be more assertive. We had a terrible night, and it’s disappointing that nothing came of it. Jed Wallace was excellent for West Brom, even in the first half he showed his quality with his delivery, and the cross from open play for Dike proved to be the winner,” said a West Brom official.