Roberto De Zerbi's side found themselves in the Premier League's bottom three for the first time this season, knowing that they'd need a win to haul themselves back out of the relegation places and effectively leave their fate this season in their own hands.
No EPL wins in 13 for Tottenham
Winless in 13 league matches, and without a victory in the top-flight in the calendar year, it was going to take all of De Zerbi's tactical nous and powers of motivation to get a tune out of an under-performing Spurs outfit.
By contrast, Regis Le Bris had steered his side to within touching distance of the European spots, and so the result was just as vital for the Black Cats, albeit for entirely different reasons.
He and his squad will have been acutely aware that they'd not won in the Premier League against the Lilywhites since April 2010, a run of 15 games without defeat for Tottenham, and a period of fixtures in which they'd scored 25 and let in 10 Sunderland goals.
De Zerbi's first big call was to bring in Destiny Udogie, Conor Gallagher, Randal Kolo Muani and Lucas Bergvall for Mathys Tel, Pape Sarr, Kevin Danso and Diop Djed Spence.
Kinsky's shot at redemption
With Guglielmo Vicario injured, the match gave Antonin Kinsky a chance to redeem himself for his awful showing against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
The visitors to the Stadium of Light were certainly the more purposeful in the opening exchanges, with both Pedro Porro and Richarlison having shots on target in the opening five minutes.
As might be expected, however, it was Sunderland who dominated the early possession, and 41% of the game had been played in the Tottenham defensive third in the first quarter hour.
Brian Brobbey's off-target header was all that the hosts had to show for their endeavours, and things might have got a lot worse for them shortly after, had VAR not intervened to reverse Robert Jones' original penalty decision for a suspected foul on Randal Kolo Muani.
Spurs on the front foot
One of three touches in the Sunderland box, Spurs' attackers were certainly willing to get in the right positions, with both Dominic Solanke (seven touches) and Richarlison (six) also getting busy and causing untold problems in the Sunderland penalty area.
'De Zerbi ball' could certainly be seen in patches as Tottenham's players knocked the ball about confidently. There was a freshness to their play that hasn't been seen for some time, suggesting that the Italian has already got his squad onside in terms of his demands.
Archie Gray, in particular, eased through the gears, and a 90% pass completion before he was hooked later in the game was impressive.
A big performance was needed, too, from both Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, and neither disappointed.
The Dutchman's epic 98.3% pass completion was the best any player from either side, whilst Romero's 90.6% showing trumped anything from Sunderland's XI.
Defensively, van de Ven won two of his three one-on-ones, with the Argentinian successful in eight of his 12 attempts.
No shots on target for the Black Cats until first-half injury-time
Udogie's four successes from five and the winning back of possession on four occasions were another reason why the hosts were struggling to create anything other than half-chances.
That said, Granit Xhaka's fierce low drive was a whisker away from opening the scoring before the break.
Three tackles won from five attempted, eight successful duels from 12 and a game-high nine occasions of winning back possession for his side underscored another all-action performance from the midfielder.
Brobbey finally managed Sunderland's first effort on target during first-half injury time, whilst a flurry of Tottenham chances also failed to find an opener.
One thing for Le Bris to address in the hosts' final few games will be the lack of a first-half goal. Failing to do so again was the 23rd time it's happened in 32 games this season - only Wolves (24) have failed to score more often.
Unlucky deflection seals the win for Sunderland
Richarlison had another attempt on target leading up to the hour mark, one of seven from Spurs' players on the day, but shortly after, Nordi Mukiele's deflected effort wrong-footed Kinsky and the visitors were behind.
Symptomatic of their lack of luck of late, a failure to win any of their last 32 matches when conceding first in the Premier League (since a victory over Aston Villa on 3rd November 2024) will have weighed heavily.
De Zerbi wouldn't allow his players' heads to drop, and after a triple substitution directly afterwards, the Italian maintained a positive demeanour on the sidelines in his attempts to lift his players.
Sunderland goalkeeper, Robin Roefs, was kept busy by a steady stream of Tottenham attacks and would have to make seven saves - his most ever in a single EPL game - by the end of the match.
Perhaps the biggest issue on the day for the visitors was their lack of accuracy in front of goal, though that's at least something that the Italian can work on.
He certainly couldn't fault the effort and willingness of his players, and that's a big plus ahead of the final few games of the campaign.
Ultimately, a 14th game without a victory is now the longest run in Tottenham's Premier League history, and De Zerbi's return to Brighton in his next game now becomes a must-win.
