Jordan Henderson opened his season's account Sunday to give Sunderland a 1-0 win over West Ham that sent the Hammers back to the foot of the Premier League standings.
The England international turned home Asamoah Gyan's 34th-minute cross to give his side all three points and end West Ham's recent revival.
Carlton Cole went close to canceling out the lead four minutes after the break and Victor Obinna hit the post 11 minutes from time, but Sunderland manager Steve Bruce saw his side hold out with few real scares.
Henderson, who made his England debut last month, was picked as man of the match after his goal ended West Ham's recent revival.
''It's a long time since I scored a goal,'' Henderson said. ''I've been working on it a lot in training, my finishing. I need to score more goals from midfield wherever I play. But the main thing is we won today.''
While Sunderland is in its highest position for a decade, West Ham has not won away from home since the opening day of last season.
West Ham is tied on 12 points and a minus-13 goal difference with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but trails because it has scored fewer goals.
''It's fair to say that we need to improve,'' West Ham manager Avram Grant said. ''The gap is not too big. We came here and got a one-goal loss.
''I think we have a very good squad to stay up. We showed that in our last two games.''
