After seeing their unbeaten home record ended by Liverpool FC, Sunderland AFC slipped to successive defeats at the Stadium of Light as Fulham FC claimed a 3-1 victory in the Premier League, ending their own three-match losing streak in the process.

With Sunderland arriving on the back of two league losses, confidence appeared fragile, and the first half reflected that mood. Clear-cut chances were scarce, with just one shot on target shared between the two sides before the interval.

Noah Sadiki tested Bernd Leno with a speculative effort five minutes before half-time, but the Fulham goalkeeper dealt with it comfortably. The hosts struggled to generate further threat and were dealt additional blows as Nordi Mukiele and Jocelin Ta Bi were both forced off through injury.

Fulham also suffered a setback when Kevin was withdrawn after missing their best first-half opening, dragging a shot wide from a tight angle.

One of Sunderland’s substitutes, Romaine Mundle, should have made an instant impact after the restart, but he somehow curled wide from close range with the goal at his mercy — a miss that would soon prove costly.

Raúl Jiménez struck twice in quick succession either side of the hour mark to take control of the contest. The Mexican, whose previous eight goals had come either via headers or penalties, repeated the trick here. He opened the scoring by powering home a header from Alex Iwobi’s corner.

Seven minutes later, Jiménez doubled the lead from the spot, sending Robin Roefs the wrong way after Calvin Bassey’s shirt was tugged by Brian Brobbey inside the area. It marked his first brace since January 2025 and left the Black Cats reeling.

To their credit, Sunderland responded. After Nilson Angulo blazed over from close range, Daniel Ballard was brought down by Ryan Sessegnon in the box, earning the hosts a penalty of their own. Enzo Le Fée converted emphatically, firing beyond Leno to reduce the deficit.

Any hopes of a comeback were swiftly extinguished. Fulham launched a clinical counterattack soon after conceding, with Harry Wilson slipping in Iwobi, who delicately chipped the advancing Roefs to restore the two-goal cushion.

Sunderland had no reply this time, and the result sees Fulham leapfrog the Wearsiders in the table. While they were unable to secure only their second away clean sheet of the league campaign, the Cottagers will take great satisfaction from claiming their first Premier League victory on the road in five attempts.