Sunderland boss Gus Poyet dubbed their victory at Capital One Cup opponents Birmingham City as "strange".
Jordi Gomez, Adam Johnson and Connor Wickham all struck inside the final 15 minutes of the tie.
Poyet said: "It was a strange game, it was a poor first half but somehow we got to half time 0-0 but the second half was different.
"The same group of players got something at half-time and the first goal was key.
"It's not going to be perfect all the time, after we scored it was the best we have played this season.
"We played rubbish for 45 minutes but we finished the game on a high. It's the way the cup goes."
