It was the sort of imperiously curling, technically demanding, goal Jude Bellingham would have treasured scoring for Real Madrid or England but, on a windy Wearside afternoon, the executioner was his younger brother.

Aged just 19, Jobe Bellingham is proving a high calibre component of Sunderland’s midfield and their promotion push. His winner kept them fourth in the Championship, but one crucial defensive block on the edge of his area arguably proved almost equally important.

Not that overcoming a mid-table Norwich, who had José Córdoba sent off moments before Bellingham’s goal, was exactly straightforward in an always edgy game, punctuated by 10 yellow cards and all sorts of on-pitch feuds.

At one point the Sunderland manager, Régis Le Bris, and the Norwich attacker Borja Sainz squared up on the touchline, while the visiting goalkeeper, Angus Gunn, had an altercation with his own defender Shane Duffy over the taking of a free-kick.

“It was quite a crazy afternoon and a difficult challenge but I like the character of my team,” said Le Bris. “It was a strange game; at certain times we had periods of lucidity and then we made mistakes.”

Le Bris’s family had flown in from France to spend the festive season in north East England, allowing his son and daughter to watch a live match at the Stadium of Light for the first time.

Sunderland have still to lose a second-tier match here this season and before kick-off Bellingham talked about “building a fortress on Wearside”.

As a viciously capricious wind sent pieces of plastic swirling all over the pitch, Norwich initially threatened to blow that citadel down. They have not won for four games now, but they began brightly, frequently looking the superior side.

After a couple of fine saves from Anthony Patterson in the home goal, Sunderland had no answer to a well‑choreographed corner routine that concluded with Anis Ben Slimane connecting with a rebound and lashing the ball beyond Patterson from close range.

A week ago, Sunderland recovered from falling two goals behind at Swansea to secure a 3-2 victory. With the match 21 minutes old there was plenty of time for a similar fightback.

The equaliser duly arrived two minutes into the second half when Norwich could merely half-clear Luke O’Nien’s free-kick, allowing Eliezer Mayenda to direct a lofted ball back in to the box for Dan Ballard to head, powerfully, past Gunn.

Intelligent and incisive, Sunderland looked almost a different team to their more tentative first-half incarnation, but still very nearly come undone as Ante Crnac sent a shot swerving narrowly wide at the end of a Norwich counterattack.

In an attempt to reassert the new power balance, Wilson Isidor missed a wonderful chance for Sunderland after finding himself clean through but Córdoba was then sent off after collecting a second yellow card for a poor challenge on Chris Mepham.

The only surprise was that a red card took so long to materialise in an increasingly feisty encounter. One that rather made a mockery of the enduring camaraderie established between Sunderland and Norwich fans after the latter’s side won the 1985 League Cup final.

By way of confirming that Sunderland were ascendant, the fall out from the free-kick that followed Córdoba’s dismissal prefaced Bellingham cutting back on to this right foot and unleashing a beautifully calibrated, awkwardly angled shot that flew into the far corner from a distinctly unpromising position.

Although Patterson did extremely well to tip a shot from the Norwich substitute Ashley Barnes on to a post, Sunderland had clearly heeded their manager’s half-time homily.

“At half-time it was clear we needed to do better,” said Le Bris. “We were not happy but in the second half my players showed their character and quality.”

Those ingredients are likely to be needed in abundance on New Year’s Day when the Championship leaders, Sheffield United, visit.