Habib Diarra squeezed home a second-half penalty as Sunderland defeated Leeds United 1-0 in a forgettable Premier League encounter at Elland Road.

It was the Black Cats' only shot on target in the entirety of Tuesday's contest, with Ethan Ampadu having been pinged for handball.

Leeds went closest to opening the scoring in a dismal first half when Anton Stach's 25-yard free-kick brought a smart stop from Premier League debutant Melker Ellborg, while Pascal Struijk thought he should have had a penalty when grappling with Luke O'Nien.

The hosts thought they had gone ahead when Joe Rodon thumped in Stach's teasing free-kick after the break, but he was judged to be offside.

Referee Stuart Attwell then took a trip to the pitch-side monitor when Ampadu handled after Wilson Isidor's shot spooned in the air – Diarra's penalty had just enough to get past Karl Darlow, who will feel he ought to have saved it after getting a full hand to it.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin almost met Dan James' teasing low centre and Jaka Bijol had a couple of late efforts as Leeds sought a leveller, but Sunderland saw out 12 nervy minutes of injury time to reach the 40-point mark.

Data Debrief: Shot-shy Sunderland still succeed

Leeds will not quite understand how they lost this game, having accumulated 18 shots to Sunderland's three, and four on target to the visitors' one.

The Black Cats' 0.86 xG was only because of their second-half penalty, while Leeds also had more touches in the opposition box (25 to nine), and final-third entries (65 to 39).

But Sunderland held their nerve when it mattered most, and they have now converted 27 of their last 28 Premier League penalties, with their only missed one in that time coming via Enzo Le Fee against Brentford in January.

Moreover, they are unbeaten in the top-flight this season when scoring the opening goal of a match (W6 D4).