With Roy Keane being unveiled as new the Sunderland boss prior to the game, fears were high amongst the travelling support that we could be on the receiving end of the sudden wave of optimism engulfing Wearside. All too predictably perhaps, those fears were confirmed right.

Baggies’ boss Bryan Robson made something of a surprise in terms of team selection, dropping Ronnie Wallwork in favour of Richard Chaplow. He also decided against handing Kevin Phillips his full Albion debut against the club he made a name for. In retrospect both decisions were wrong.

Just as in the majority of games this season Albion got off to a flying start, with just two minutes on the clock Zoltan Gera's cut-back deflected off Neill Collins and then former Blues’ man Kenny Cunningham, forcing Ben Alnwick to turn the ball around the post.

From then on it was one way traffic, and all in the wrong direction as far as Albion were concerned. In the 11th minute Sunderland debutant Tobias Hysen should have given the hosts the lead, Chris Brown shrugging off the attentions of Curtis Davies to present Hysen with the easiest of chances from just five yards out. Inexplicably, the son of former Liverpool star Glenn, blazed wide with only Pascal Zuberbuhler to beat.

Seven minutes later, it was Brown himself that went close to opening the scoring, a quickly-taken free-kick by Liam Lawrence gave Stephen Elliott the chance to cross for Brown, who could only fire over from eight yards out, Baggies' captain Davies doing well to put the young striker under pressure.

On 21 minutes Albion had another lucky escape, Lawrence heading weakly wide from Dean Whitehead's corner. As so often this season, Swiss goalkeeper Zuberbuhler was looking extremely vulnerable to balls swung into his area.

Sunderland were now totally dominant and in the 24th minute again missed a good chance, Elliott the culprit this time, mis-kicking a chance from eight yards out following a Rory Delap cross.

On the half-hour mark Zuberbuhler made his only worthwhile contribution of the game, producing a smart save with his legs from Grant Leadbitter’s close range shot after a quick counter attack by the home side had ripped the Albion defence apart.

Albion’s luck finally deserted them a couple of minutes later when a Whitehead left-wing corner flew straight into the net despite Paul Robinson’s valiant efforts to keep the ball out. It was yet another blunder from Zuberbuhler who is fast living up to his reputation for being a ‘dodgy’ keeper.

Four minutes before the break, the visitors, who had offered no threat whatsoever, finally recorded an effort on goal when John Hartson flicked on Steve Watson's long throw-in to Nathan Ellington who volleyed over from twelve yards out.

The start of the second half saw Bryan Robson hand former Sunderland hero Phillips his Albion league debut, replacing the totally ineffective Ellington. Phillips received a mixed reception from the Wearside support, somewhat harsh considering all that he had previously done for the club.

Disastrously for Albion, and before Phillips had even touched the ball, the home side doubled their lead. Hysen swinging in a right-wing free-kick that Collins powerfully headed home after losing his marker Hartson.

Albion almost grabbed an immediate reply when Gera’s 25 yard free-kick, awarded for a foul on Hartson, was fumbled by Alnwick in the Sunderland goal. Luckily for the England Under-21 keeper he managed to grab the ball at the second attempt despite pressure from Watson and Davies.

On 52 minutes the hosts almost made it three when sloppy play by Chaplow allowed Lawrence to break clear only for his cross to evade the unmarked Hysen in the box.

Baggies’ boss Robson made a double change in the 59th minute, replacing the very poor duo of Chaplow and Jonathan Greening with Wallwork and Darren Carter, a move which in all honesty made no difference whatsoever.

With Sunderland comfortably in the lead and with Albion totally bereft of ideas, the game became something of a bore and it wasn’t until 73 minutes were on the clock that the next moment of note came - Hysen having a 15 yard effort ruled out for offside.

After offering hardly a threat during the first 75 minutes, Albion then had two efforts within the space of two minutes. First Wallwork fired well wide following a Hartson knockdown and then Hartson himself headed Gera's cross narrowly wide when really he should have done better.

Despite Albion having more possession during the closing stages of the game they never really looked like clawing themselves back into it and so suffered a first defeat of the season - and a thoroughly deserved defeat at that.

ALBION MAN OF THE MATCH: Nigel Quashie
SUNDERLAND MAN OF THE MATCH: Liam Lawrence

PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN

Zuberbuhler 2 - At fault for the first goal and looked unsure throughout. Simply not good enough.
Watson 7 - Shrugged off the stick given by the home fans to put in a good hard working performance.
Robinson 6 - A typically steady performance.
Davies 7 - Defended superbly as usual but again his distribution was poor.
Perry 6 - Another decent performance although troubled more than in the previous four games.
Quashie 8 - His best performance for the club. Worked hard and rarely wasted a pass.
Chaplow 4 - Given a chance but failed to impress. Continually lost possession and muscled off the ball.
Greening 5 - Still to find the form he's capable of.
Gera 5 - Like Greening, not at his best.
Hartson 4 - Struggled throughout although was given no service.
Ellington 4 - Never got into the game.

SUBS:
Phillips 5 - Posed more threat than Hartson and Ellington but still failed to trouble the home defence.
Wallwork 4 - Couldn't impose himself on the game.
Carter 5 - Worked hard but made no real contribution.

REF WATCH

Phil Joslin 7 - A good even handed performance.

FAN WATCH

Albion 3 - Travelled in good numbers but vocal support was seriously lacking.
Sunderland 7 - Clearly lifted by the arrival of Roy Keane. Very vocal but far too many empty seats.