IT might have been unfortunate, but there was a definite sense of the inevitable about Arjen Robben's dismissal for over-celebration yesterday. When it comes to this season at the Stadium of Light, hard luck stories abound.

Robben will feel he was wronged when referee Chris Foy brandished a red card in the wake of his 69th-minute winner, but his dismay will be nothing compared to the sense of injustice currently being felt by Sunderland.

For the umpteenth time this season, Mick McCarthy's men produced a display that bristled with energy, enterprise and enthusiasm. For the umpteenth time this season, that display earned them precisely nothing by the time the final whistle was blown.

A game that was billed as the greatest mismatch in Premiership history turned out to be little more than an explanation of why Chelsea and Sunderland currently fill their respective positions in the table.

Chelsea are 16 points clear of their nearest rivals because they are capable of winning games despite playing nowhere near their best. Sunderland are ten points behind Birmingham because their best performances have failed to garner any points.

It is difficult to imagine the Black Cats performing any better than they did in the first half of yesterday's game but, by the time Hernan Crespo's close-range header cancelled out Liam Lawrence's opener, the inevitability out of the outcome was hardly in doubt.

Kelvin Davis thwarted Chelsea with a succession of second-half saves, but Robben eventually sealed Sunderland's fate with 21 minutes to go. That his winner took a massive deflection off Dean Whitehead merely added to the Black Cats' sense of woe.

Earlier in the day, embattled chairman Bob Murray had outlined the contractual measures that would prevent Sunderland suffering another financial collapse should their likely relegation be confirmed.

Murray's realism might not sit well with the bulk of his club's supporters, but his downbeat comments are the perfect accompaniment to everything that has happened in the last five months. If they play like this and get nothing, Sunderland are surely doomed.

Not that it looked that way initially. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Stadium of Light witnessed an exceedingly one-sided start to yesterday's encounter. What was rather more remarkable, though, was that the superior side was Sunderland.

By the end of the first half, normal service had just about been resumed but, for more than half-an-hour, the Black Cats' basement boys outplayed Chelsea's champions.

They did so with a combination of industry and invention. Tommy Miller and Dean Whitehead supplied the former, performing the seemingly impossible task of containing Frank Lampard. Lawrence and Julio Arca provided the latter, offering a wing threat to rival that provided by Robben and Joe Cole.

Jon Stead had already tested Petr Cech - a second-minute strike thudded into the Chelsea goalkeeper's chest - when Sunderland's vibrant start was rewarded with a goal.

Arca crossed from the left and, when John Terry uncharacteristically failed to clear his lines, Lawrence pounced on the loose ball and swept it into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

The former Mansfield midfielder scored at a similar stage of this month's 2-1 defeat at Fulham and, while yesterday's goal might not have been as eye-catching as his Craven Cottage volley, the quality of the opposition meant it was even more rapturously received.

In many ways, Lawrence's Premiership experience mirrors the story of Sunderland's season. All at sea initially, the 24-year-old has gradually come to terms with life at a higher level. While the results might suggest otherwise, the rest of Sunderland's side can justifiably claim the same.

Yesterday's first-half display was undoubtedly the Black Cats' best of the season and, while the visitors eventually left the field on level terms, Jose Mourinho's undisguised unease highlighted the extent of Sunderland's dominance.

There was none of Chelsea's slick first-touch passing and, had Anthony Le Tallec not directed his stoppage-time header straight at Cech, Mourinho's half-time dressing down might have been even more aggressive.

That it was not was also due to Crespo's conversion of his side's only meaningful opportunity before the break.

The Argentina international swooped from close-range after Cole had nodded William Gallas' 28th-minute cross back across the face of goal, much to the consternation of Sunderland's defenders.

They were claiming that the ball had crossed the line before Cole headed it back into the six-yard box but, with even television replays failing to provide a definitive answer, it would have taken a brave assistant referee to raise his flag.

The goal did not change the nature of the game immediately but, as time wore on, Chelsea's parity enabled them to settle into their stride.

Hampered by an inability to retain possession, Sunderland's defenders sought refuge on the edge of their own penalty box. Had it not been for the agility of Kelvin Davis, they would have punished for seeking such safety.

Davis was cast in the role of pariah when he made a succession of sloppy mistakes in the opening three months of the season but, since returning to the side in December, the Sunderland goalkeeper has rediscovered the form that saw him named the best shot-stopper outside of the Premiership eight months ago.

Four second-half saves came in the space of 12 manic minutes, with Crespo, Lampard and Robben all going close to giving the visitors the advantage. The best thwarted the former, with Davis parrying Crespo's header from Asier Del Horno's cross despite the striker standing no more than four yards away from him.

There are times, though, when a goalkeeper is rendered impotent and, through no fault of his own, Davis was left clutching at air as Chelsea forged ahead in the 69th minute.

Robben chanced his arm after cutting in from the right, but his shot would surely have been saved had it not taken a significant deflection off Dean Whitehead's head.

The deviation was enough to beat Davis, although Robben's response at least helped to temper Sunderland's sense of misfortune. The Chelsea winger leapt over an advertising hoarding to embrace the visiting fans, and was duly dismissed for a second yellow card.

By the letter of the law, Foy had no option. Unfortunately, for the home side, his thinking was not so precise some 15 minutes later.

With Sunderland throwing everyone forward, Ricardo Carvalho appeared to wrestle substitute Andy Gray to the ground. Given everything that has happened this season, it was no surprise to see Foy remain resolutely unmoved.