Goals from Adil Aouchiche and Jobe Bellingham consigned Cardiff City to defeat and finally put an end to their play-off ambitions.

Sunderland went ahead after twelve minutes thanks to Aouchiche’s confident penalty and from there dominated the game. Bellingham converted from close range fifteen minutes later, getting on the end of Aouchiche’s perfect cross.

Cardiff themselves may have felt aggrieved at the awarding of a soft penalty when a shout of their own was turned down swiftly by referee Jeremy Simpson in the second half.

Both sides have had mixed campaigns up until this point, with Cardiff’s recent run of four straight wins punctuated by a chastening derby day defeat at Swansea.

Sunderland were winless in seven, slipping into middle table obscurity after a promising start to the campaign.

After a hint of Cardiff’s attacking play – right winger Josh Bowler cutting inside on his left to strike low into the side netting – the first period fell into a pattern.

Sunderland, in spite of Cardiff’s pressure, were able to easily progress the ball into the home side’s half, mostly through Aouchiche dropping deep. From there, Chris Rigg and Abdoullah Ba were constant threats in behind.

Cardiff, on the other hand, often looked to set their wingers, Bowler and Callum O’Dowda, away early. One of the few times they did try to play their way out of the back, Dimitrios Goutas’ loose ball was pounced upon by Aouchiche for Bellingham to win the penalty.

The home players and fans will no doubt have felt aggrieved with the concession of the penalty as Bellingham seemed to go down easily under pressure from Goutas and Nat Phillips. Aouchiche stepped up and put the ball high and hard down the middle.

From there, Cardiff were visibly shaken, with passes finding touch rather than blue shirts.

The warning signs for more Sunderland goals were loud and clear as Ba and Rigg went close after good work from Aouchiche and Bellingham respectively.

Sunderland’s settler came in the blink of an eye. Trai Hume turned on the touchline and looked for Aouchiche behind Joe Ralls. The Cardiff captain stretched, but could not reach the ball. From there, all the French youth international had to do was look up and find Bellingham and the back post for his seventh league goal of the season.

The Bluebirds often left their midfield too exposed in build up, making Sunderland’s attacks all the more threatening when the ball was turned over – something that happened regularly throughout the opening period.

Manager Erol Bulut tried to switch things up at halftime as Ruben Colwill was replaced by Aaron Ramsey and Famara Diédhiou caused a reshuffle on the wings.

In truth, none of Bulut’s changes worked, with Sunderland happy to let Cardiff play into their hands after the break.

When Cardiff did manage to claw their way forward, sloppy ball control let them down. Crosses found the first man, dribbles into a crowd of bodies, and rare shots high and wide.

Dan Neil in Sunderland’s midfield was always game. Always showing for the ball, when on it, he was a sources of quality. Aouchiche was able to find him in space on a number of occasions, the most threatening of which lead to the 22-year-old curling just wide of Ethan Horvath’s goal.

Goutas went close from a corner when his near post header clipped the top of the bar with Anthony Patterson beaten in the Sunderland net but that was as close as Cardiff would get all afternoon.

Some good saves by Ethan Horvath in the Cardiff goal saved his side from a bigger defeat but 2-0 flattered the home side who were never close to getting a result.

Despite the gap in quality on the day, both sides remain where they started today – Cardiff one place above Sunderland in 11th and the visitors in 12th with both clubs’ hopes of a late play-off run long gone.