Cardiff City dropped ever closer to the relegation zone after Sunderland came away from the Welsh capital with a 1-0 win on Easter Monday.
By Glen Williams
Good Friday saw Cardiff take a giant leap forward with a 3-1 win over Blackpool, however Dennis Cirkin's second-half striker was enough to consign City to defeat just three days later.
With results not going kindly around them, Cardiff are now left perilously hanging above the drop zone by only one place, albeit with a game in hand.
But the manner of the defeat will worry Cardiff fans. A passive, poor performance just when they needed it least. It leaves them in 21st position and, once again, looking over their shoulders worriedly.
The wind howled inside Cardiff City Stadium as the game got underway - and it certainly took a while for the players to warm up.
It was a pretty drab affair, all told, with Sunderland enjoying the vast majority of possession and territory, with a lethargic-looking Cardiff struggling to impart any pressure on the ball.
It took half an hour for the first real chance to be registered, with Black Cats skipper Danny Batth heading over from a corner.
Sabri Lamouchi wasted no time in making changes through, surprisingly hauling off Sheyi Ojo and creator-in-chief Jaden Philogene, who threw his gloves on the touchline after coming off, for Jack Simpson and Andy Rinomhota.
Just seconds later, it looked like Sunderland had scored as he tapped home a cross, only for the official to raise his flag on the far side.
But Cardiff would have one real chance before the half was through by virtue of a Romaine Sawyers cross which found Sory Kaba. The striker rose highest and it looked to be meat and drink for him, but his header was straight at Anthony Patterson.
It was very much a case of going back to the drawing board during the half-time break.
Something changed in both camps, though, because the game was far livelier after the break, although Sunderland always looked the more likely.
And on the hour mark they converted that pressure into a goal. Alex Pritchard's whipped free-kick was tipped on to the post by Ryan Allsop before it bounced into the middle of the six-yard box, where Cirkin could latch on and tap home.
The Bluebirds threw bodies forward, but had very little to show for it by means of clear-cut chances late on. The only one of real note was a Sory Kaba chest-and-volley from close range, but it didn't trouble the goalkeeper.
All things considered, a disappointingly lacklustre display from a team supposedly fighting for their lives.
Cardiff City XI: Allsop; Ng, Kipre, McGuinness; Romeo (Davies 78), Wintle, Sawyers (Ralls 61), Ojo (Rinomhota 36); Philogene (Simpson 36); Wickham (Etete 46), Kaba.
Subs: Alnwick, Harris.
Sunderland XI: Patterson; Hume, Batth, Gooch. Cirkin; Neil, Ekwah (Michut 72), Ba (Roberts 72); Pritchard (Gelhardt 79), Clarke, Amad.
Subs: Bass, Lichadji, Anderson, Taylor.
Attendance: 23,365
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