Sunderland have progressed into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory over Leeds United at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.

Patrick van Aanholt's strike was enough to give Gus Poyet's men the win against Neil Redfearn's side.

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Sunderland made a bright start to the match, with Emanuele Giaccherini forcing Marco Silvestri into a save early on.

The hosts almost opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Ricardo Alvarez, but his shot struck the bar before Leeds cleared the ball to safety.

Santiago Vergini then saw his goal-bound header cleared off the line by Leeds midfielder Casper Sloth in the 28th minute.

Sunderland opened the scoring through Van Aanholt soon after. The Dutch defender collected Steven Fletcher's pass before firing a powerful strike beyond Silvestri from a tight angle.

Leeds improved after the break, with Brian Montenegro testing Costel Pantilimon with a powerful 52nd-minute strike. Rodolph Austin then blazed a shot over the bar after being picked out from a free kick.

Connor Wickham could have made the game safe for the hosts with five minutes left on the clock, but he could not direct his header towards the corner, allowing Silvestri to make a comfortable save.

Championship strugglers Leeds almost found an equaliser in injury time through Liam Cooper, but the defender's header came back out off the post as Sunderland held on for the victory.