Sunderland travelled to St James' Park this afternoon for what shaped up to be one of the most hotly-contested Tyne-Wear derbies in years.

With both teams struggling in the lower reaches of the Premier League, there was plenty at stake for the winner of today's match.

The Black Cats had failed to beat Newcastle United in their previous six attempts in the Premier League, but ran out 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Stephane Sessegnon, Adam Johnson and David Vaughan.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look to see where the match was won and lost.

Match statistics

Newcastle
Shots: 19
On Target: 5
Possession: 66%
Corners: 10
Fouls: 14

Sunderland
Shots: 10
On Target: 6
Possession: 34%
Corners: 9
Fouls: 7

Was the result fair?

Yes. Sunderland were clinical in front of goal and deserved the three points this afternoon.

Newcastle's performance

The Magpies didn't really start that badly. It was a frantic opening to the contest, but it was the visitors who began to gain the upper hand after the 10-minute mark. There was no bite in midfield, which is surprising when you consider that it had Cheikh Tiote, Moussa Sissoko and Yohan Cabaye. Papiss Cisse wasted a chance to draw his team level immediately after falling behind and they went into half time trailing. They went on the offensive after the break and thought that they had drawn level through Cisse, only for the linesman to wrongly flag for offside. They were then punished by two great strikes, although the defending for the second goal was non-existent.

Sunderland's performance

The Black Cats showed two different sides to their game at St James' Park. In the first half, they were on top and controlled the pace of it. In the second, they were forced to defend as the hosts inevitably began to exert some pressure. However, they never wavered and always looked dangerous on the break. That proved to be so, as Adam Johnson and David Vaughan wrapped up a memorable win - Paolo Di Canio's first in charge.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Stephane Sessegnon: The Frenchman was the metaphorical thorn in the paw of Newcastle today. He was more like the player we saw when he first moved to the Premier League. He got the first goal to set Sunderland on their way.

Biggest gaffe

The linesman wrongly flagged Cisse offside when he slammed home what Newcastle thought was the equaliser in the second half. That would have made it 1-1, and you never know how things might have unfolded from there on in.

Referee's performance

Howard Webb didn't have a very good game. His decision to award a free kick to Newcastle when Steven Taylor went down, gifting Sessegnon a run on goal in the 10th minute, was soft. Danny Graham should have had a penalty when Taylor tugged his shirt inside the area not long after. Many might think that Yoan Gouffran should have seen red for a foul on Adam Johnson, for which he was shown a yellow card. He can't really be held accountable for the offside decision, though.

What's next?

Newcastle: Alan Pardew takes his side to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Sunderland: Di Canio's rejuvenated team welcome Everton to the Stadium of Light, also on Saturday.