Lee Cattermole and George Honeyman were on target as Sunderland kept up their pursuit of automatic promotion from League One with a 2-0 win over Plymouth Argyle.
With Barnsley having beaten Southend in the lunchtime game, Sunderland kicked off knowing they could ill afford to lose any ground on the two teams above them.
Celtic loanee Lewis Morgan began brightly down the right, seeing an early shot deflected over and failing to find the target for a second time midway through the first half, and Plymouth goalkeeper Kyle Letheren was called into action for the first time when Jimmy Dunne headed Grant Leadbitter's corner into his midriff.
Letheren was called into action again shortly after, turning Aiden McGeady's low effort around the post, but the visiting shot-stopper could do nothing as Cattermole broke the deadlock shortly after the half-hour mark.
Morgan's low cross was deflected into Cattermole's path, and the midfielder fired home from the centre of the penalty area.
Plymouth failed to create anything in the first half, but the visitors thought they should have had a penalty after the interval when Tom Flanagan appeared to block Gary Sawyer's shot with his arm.
However, the game was settled with three minutes left as Honeyman swept home McGeady's left-wing cross.