The visitors had parted company with manager Mario Kovacevic on Sunday, and interim head coach Jerko Leko almost suffered an early setback when Jules Ahoka headed straight at Dominik Kotarski from six yards out.
Dinamo top goalscorer Dion Drena Beljo passed up a similarly presentable chance midway through the half when his shot deflected off Granit Xhaka, but the resulting corner found its way to Luka Stojkovic, who controlled the ball on his chest before volleying home his third goal of the season.
Dinamo poured forward, and Mislav Orsic thought he had increased the lead two minutes later after rounding Robin Roefs, only to see his shot cleared off the line by Thomas Meunier.
The Belgian defender then almost inadvertently equalised when his teasing cross bamboozled Kotarski and bounced back off the post, but Sunderland looked vulnerable and fell two goals behind six minutes before half-time, when Stojkovic’s exquisite clipped through ball released Beljo to poke in his fourth goal in three UEL games.
Sunderland were booed off at the interval, and manager Regis Le Bris responded by making four substitutions ahead of the second half, with Noah Sadiki, Enzo Le Fee, Reinildo Mandava, and Trai Hume replacing Dayann Methalie, Chris Rigg, Meunier, and Ahoka.
The changes appeared to have had the desired effect when Wilson Isidor headed home Xhaka’s free-kick less than two minutes after the restart, but the goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR check.
Sunderland kept pushing, and Hume was denied by Lukas Kacavenda’s goal-saving block before Kevin Danso hooked a shot against the crossbar, but they were grateful to see Stojkovic whip an effort just wide at the other end.
The omens were not good for the Black Cats, with only one of their previous seven home games across all competitions this season seeing both teams score, and substitute Brian Brobbey failed to connect sufficiently with Xhaka’s excellent cross.
Despite piling on the pressure, Sunderland were unable to find a goal to set up a grandstand finish as their unbeaten start to the league phase came to an end (W2, D1, L1), although they remain in a strong position to qualify for the knockout phase.
Meanwhile, Dinamo now have an identical UEL record to their opponents after claiming back-to-back away clean sheets in the competition, having conceded in each of their previous 11 continental road trips.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominik Kotarski (Dinamo Zagreb)
