Tony Pulis' new signing Ade Akinbiyi was left waiting in the wings against the Black Cats but it looked like his help wasn't needed after Stoke City went looking for their first win in five games.
Everything was even until the 24th minute when Marcus Hall stormed down the left side and played the ball to Gifton Noel-Williams who superbly turned to George McCartney and sent his shot flying into Mart Poom's goal.
Stoke were in full flow by the 37th minute and when Carl Asaba's cross fell behind Chris Greenacre, Darel Russell arrived on the right side of the area under pressure from Craig James but he held his nerve and squeezed his effort into the bottom left corner.
James was left kicking himself only two minutes later when Russell received the ball almost straight from the kick off, and with a slight deflection off the Sunderland defender's boots he watched Poom reel back but fail to save his looping shot.
Sunderland seemed to take an eternity to come out for the second half, but whatever Mick McCarthy said it seemed to work.
Marcus Stewart found huge forward Kevin Kyle seven yards out, however it took two bites of the cherry when Ed de Goey made a brilliant stop only to see the ball sail in a second later.
City found themselves under a degree of pressure towards the end with Kevin Kyle going close again but the Potters back four was sturdy enough to withstand any attempts the away side had to offer.
Sean Thornton left the field on 74 minutes after referee Mike Pike judged him to have fouled for the second time.
Victorious manager Tony Pulis said: "We showed a little bit more commitment and we owed a couple of thousand fans that travelled to Coventry on the weekend a good performance.
"We are very pleased to have picked up the three points and hope we can build on this performance."
Stoke: de Goey, Russell, Thomas, Williams, Marcus Hall, Clarke, Greenacre, Eustace, Andrews, Asaba, Noel-Williams. Subs: Cutler, Akinbiyi, Iwelumo, Neal, Commons.
Yellow Cards:
C.Clarke, 52, unsporting behaviour
J.Eustace, 90, unsporting behaviour
Sunderland: Poom, James, McCartney, Breen, Arca, Healy, Thornton, Thirlwell, Oster, Kyle, Stewart. Subs: Whitley, Ingham, Proctor, Butler, Bjorklund.
Yellow Cards:
S.Thornton, 16, unsporting behaviour
J.Arca, 34, unsporting behaviour
P.Thirlwell, 68, unsporting behaviour
S.Thornton, 74, second bookable offence
T.Butler, 78, unsporting behaviour
M.Stewart, 89, unsporting behaviour
Red Card:
Referee: Mike Pike (Cumbria).
Attendance: 15,005