Luke McNally's headed winner ended Stoke City's run of home defeats as they saw off Sunderland.
The Burnley loanee headed in Daniel Johnson's corner kick early in the second half to give Alex Neil the respite of a second win in nine Championship games.
Ryan Mmaee had fired Stoke ahead early in the game but Jack Clarke's eighth goal of the season had brought the Black Cats level.
McNally's winner means play-off hopefuls Sunderland have lost back-to-back games and brought an abrupt end to their run of three successive away wins.
Stoke manager Alex Neil had jokingly feared he might end up being abused by both sets of fans in this game, after his controversial move from Sunderland last year, and given the fact that since that moment only struggling QPR have lost more home Championship games than his team.