Regis Le Bris made a winning start to life as Sunderland manager as the Black Cats earned a hard-fought 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the Welsh capital.
A close-range header from Luke O’Nien on 18 minutes put the visitors ahead with their first effort on target as Cardiff paid the price for a moment of sloppy defending.
The Bluebirds will feel they did enough to take something out of a competitive game that was low on chances, but they could not find a way past goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.
The visitors made the result safe with two minutes of normal time remaining when Jack Clarke cut inside and fired home, underlining his importance to the Black Cats and showing why he is a transfer target for Premier League clubs.
Three points represented the perfect start to life in the dug-out for Le Bris.
The Sunderland manager still had the likes of Clarke and Jobe Bellingham to select as he named his first starting XI as Black Cats boss.
Cardiff counterpart Erol Bulut handed debuts to summer signings Chris Willock and Callum Chambers, but left out defender Mark McGuinness who is the subject of interest from other clubs.
The Bluebirds are now in their second season under Bulut, a level of stability the club has not had since Neil Warnock was in charge and there was a nice fluidity about the hosts in the early exchanges.
Former Arsenal and Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey was unsurprisingly central to most of Cardiff’s neat interplay, but they could not take advantage as Ollie Tanner’s shot was blocked and goalkeeper Anthony Patterson produced a fingertip save to deny Dimitrios Goutas’ header.
The Bluebirds have been renowned set-piece specialists in recent seasons, but they fell behind to Sunderland’s first effort on target as poor defensive play cost Cardiff.
Patrick Roberts’ free-kick was headed back across goal by Dennis Cirkin, allowing O’Nien the simplest of finishes from close range.
The goal gave Sunderland a foothold and they began to effectively stifle Cardiff, whose best effort before the break saw Patterson comfortably save from Callum Robinson’s weak shot on the turn, with Tanner heading wide on the stroke of half-time.
The Bluebirds have been notoriously bad starters in recent seasons, having won just two of their last 11 opening day fixtures, and they will feel aggrieved not to have equalised on the hour mark when Ramsey’s effort deflected straight to goalkeeper Patterson.
The visitors missed a golden chance to lead 2-0 on 67 minutes when Eliezer Mayenda got his shot all wrong after Bellingham found him unmarked in the penalty area, with Mayenda – who lost his balance as he took his shot - firing straight at goalkeeper Evan Horvath.
Cirkin also headed wide as Cardiff made several changes in a bid to restore parity, with attackers Rubin Colwill, Yakou Meite and debutant Wilfried Kanga all introduced.
However, Sunderland were tough to break down and while Perry Ng fired over after a free-kick, the visitors always looked a threat on the counter-attack and they secured the points when Clarke cut inside and fired emphatically past Horvath.
Cardiff have now lost five of their last seven home league games against Sunderland, failing to score in each defeat, with the away side winning the last five meetings between the clubs.
Cardiff City: Hovarth, Ng, Goutas, Chambers, O’Dowda, Siopis, Ralls © (Turnbull 77’), Ramsey, Willock (Colwill 77’), Tanner (Meite 62’), Robinson (Kanga 68’). Subs Not Used: Alnwick, Fagan-Walcott, Bagan, Robertson, Rinomhota,
Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Alese, O’Nien, Cirkin, Neil ©, Browne, Bellingham, Roberts (Rigg 77’), Clarke (Mundle 90’), Mayenda (Rusyn 72’). Subs Not Used: Moore, Triantis, Johnson, Ekwah, Rigg, Aouchiche, Ba.