For the fourth successive season, Queens Park Rangers exited the Carabao Cup to League One opponents, a curse which means their wait for a first cup quarter final since 1995 will continue.
Instead it is Sunderland, the 2014 finalists and lowest-ranked club left in the competition, who will plough on after securing victory in a penalty shootout.
Their supporters will enjoy a December day out, a week before Christmas. QPR's left with a sense of injustice, however, after a late winner, scored by Charlie Austin, was controversially called offside.