West Brom gave their survival hopes a shot in the arm with a deserved 1-0 victory against Champions League hopefuls Southampton.
Saido Berahino settled matters early on with a powerful left-footed strike from the edge of the area which left Fraser Forster grasping at thin air.
In the early game, former West Ham boss Alan Pardew enjoyed his return to Upton Park as his Crystal Palace side came away with a 3-1 victory.
Glenn Murray gave the visitors the lead four minutes before half-time, although his header certainly would not have found the net had Aaron Cresswell not made a horrendous mess of an attempted clearance.
A header from Scott Dann six minutes after the break doubled Palace's lead and Murray then headed in a third before his afternoon ended early with a second yellow card.
Enner Valencia pulled one back for West Ham 14 minutes from time but that was as good as it got for Sam Allardyce's stuttering side.
Along with Sunderland, there were defeats for three other members of the bottom six, all of them 1-0.
Tim Sherwood is still searching for his first point as Aston Villa manager after Papiss Cisse netted the winner for Newcastle in the 37th minute.
A Kieran Trippier own goal condemned Burnley to a home loss against Swansea while Peter Crouch equalled Alan Shearer's Premier League record of 46 headed goals seconds after coming on as a substitute as Stoke beat Hull.
