Sunderland are 45 minutes away from claiming their first win of the season after taking a 2-1 lead in at half time against Stoke City.
Connor Wickham struck his first Premier League goal for 10 games after just four minutes when he converted with a header from Steven Fletcher's cross.
The visitors restored parity on 15 minutes when Charlie Adam's shot flew into the bottom corner after he had used a defender as a decoy to deceive Vito Mannone in the Sunderland goal.
However, Fletcher, who enjoyed a productive first 45 minutes, gave his side the lead on 23 minutes when he rose highest from Jordi Gomez's corner to nod home.
Marko Arnautovic spurned a great chance to level things up after Peter Crouch had played his teammate in on the half-hour mark.
Sunderland nearly extended their lead when Will Buckley's over-hit cross almost looped over Asmir Begovic.
Paul Gorst
