Nemanja Vidic broke Sunderland hearts with a last-gasp winner for Manchester United in a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.
Three days after Roy Keane's shock exit as manager, it seemed the Black Cats would record a suitable epitaph for his time in charge as they mounted a brave rearguard action.
With Marton Fulop and Dean Whitehead outstanding, Sunderland reached the final minute with their goal still intact.
But, as they have done so often, and as Sunderland have found to their cost before, United still came up with a killer blow.
With virtually their final attack, Michael Carrick went for goal. His long-range effort struck Carlos Edwards and smashed onto a post.
Finally, Fulop was helpless and as the ball rolled across his penalty area, up stepped Vidic, who tapped into an empty net.
If ever there was a 0-0 hammering, the first-half was it.
In opting to name Dwight Yorke in front of the Sunderland back four, acting manager Ricky Sbragia hinted at a safety-first attitude. And he was not wrong.
Sunderland did not spend the entire opening period scrambling the ball away from their own penalty area, but it felt like it and United attacked in waves throughout those opening 45 minutes.
Yet, with skipper Whitehead heroic, Danny Collins and Anton Ferdinand, recalled and desperate to show he is the equal of brother Rio, stoic and Fulop inspired, somehow the Black Cats survived.
The first serious threat to the visitors' goal came after 12 minutes when Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo flicked a pass through to Dimitar Berbatov which caught Sunderland on their heels.
Thankfully for the visitors Fulop was alive to the danger, dashing out to save with his legs.
It was not the last time Fulop kept United at bay in such fashion as the Hungarian rose to the challenge presented by the absence of first-choice Craig Gordon.
If Keane was watching the clash of his two old clubs, he would have been proud of the way the team he assembled manfully stuck to their task.
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