Steed Malbranque drew praise from Steve Bruce after turning in a super display in midfield at the Stadium of Light.
The Belgian, 30, helped lay on the first three goals and produced a killer through ball for the crucial second goal, finished by Darren Bent.
Malbranque has been missing from the side of late but impressed his manager after being handed a recall to the first eleven.
"Steed Malbranque put in his best performance of the season - the kid was terrific," Bruce said.
"He was arguably the best player of the pitch. We all know what he's capable of and he did very, very well tonight.
"That's given me food for thought. Maybe Steed's best position is on the left, as opposed to the other side. I'm learning all the time.
"Full credit to Steed tonight."
