Blackburn Rovers moved six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Ewood Park tonight.
Junior Hoilett added to his double against Wolverhampton Wanderers 10 days ago while Yakubu also netted to record Rovers' second straight win.
The first half produced little action of note, with neither goalkeeper forced into a save.
Nigerian striker Yakubu did come close to giving Rovers the lead but his third-minute shot was cleared off the line by Black Cats defender Phil Bardsley.
Hoilett then broke the deadlock with a fine volley after Simon Mignolet's punch dropped to the Canadian's feet at the edge of the area.
The goal seemed to spark Sunderland into life as firstly Nicholas Bendtner and then Dong-Won Ji had chances to level.
On-loan striker Bendtner was denied by a fine block from Martin Olsson before the Korean substitute blazed over from close range.
Having come close to opening the scoring earlier in proceedings, Yakubu then settled the result with Blackburn's second five minutes from time.
Joe Fish
