The hosts showed early intent with Mathys Tel getting a shot off inside the opening minute, and they stayed on the front foot despite it not taking Sunderland long to look strong defensively.
Pedro Porro hit an audacious shot that floated harmlessly off-target and Richarlison’s tame shot was routinely claimed by Robin Roefs.
There was then a blow for Thomas Frank as Mohammed Kudus went off injured just 19 minutes into proceedings.
Spurs continued to have the better opportunities after the Ghanaian’s departure, and their opener eventually came from a corner on the half-hour mark, when Cristian Romero was afforded the space to bring down the ball and play it to out Micky van de Ven, whose attempt was touched in by Ben Davies on the Spurs stalwart’s first start of the season.
The Black Cats looked for a quick response, but Van de Ven blocked Enzo Le Fee’s speculative attempt and Trai Hume fired over.
But Sunderland’s spirit continued to show after the interval, as Guglielmo Vicario was forced into his first save of the game within four minutes of the restart, when he denied Eliezer Mayenda’s header.
A lax Romero pass then started a move that required Davies to deflect Brian Brobbey’s strike into the side netting, and Simon Adingra guided an attempt marginally wide as Sunderland maintained hope of restoring parity.
With time running short, Randal Kolo Muani saw his shot from a tight angle saved after a blistering move going the other way, as an edginess built up in the atmosphere.
That proved to be warranted too, as just moments after Le Fee had headed against the post, Brobbey linked up with the Frenchman and emphatically smashed his shot past Vicario with nine minutes remaining.
Hume then had his attempt tipped over and there were heated exchanges towards the end, as Sunderland extended their unbeaten run to five matches and ensured that Spurs’ own third consecutive match without a loss will be far less satisfying.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Enzo Le Fee (Sunderland)