Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill was relieved with victory over Fulham.
O'Neill saw his side win for the first time in seven league games and was pleased with the way his players used their one-man advantage following Brede Hangeland's dismissal.
"I'm delighted to win the game, sendings off change the dynamic of matches, we saw it yesterday in the Tottenham v Arsenal game," he said.
"You have to try and take advantage of that and we did that in the second half.
"They were never out of the match but I was pleased for us to score some goals and win away from home, our goalkeeper has made two fantastic saves and he is having a fantastic season, and I thought Fletcher was fantastic too."