Ten-man West Brom’s Championship play-off charge was dented as Sunderland won 1-0 at The Hawthorns.
Pierre Ekwah netted the winner after connecting first time with a Callum Styles corner at the end of the first half.
That immediately followed West Brom forward Brandon Thomas-Asante’s 43rd-minute red card for two bookable offences, the first Albion player to be sent off of Carlos Corberan’s 16-month reign.
The defeat left the Baggies fifth, seven points clear of seventh-placed Hull, who had a game in hand.
Sunderland centre-half Dan Ballard, whose foul on West Brom striker Josh Maja in the reverse fixture at the Stadium Of Light back in December ruled the striker out for four months, was booed by the home crowd with his every touch.
West Brom began with a greater tempo than their visitors, who had played out two goalless draws prior to this.
Sunderland captain Luke O’Nien was required to nod behind a teasing delivery from Albion winger Mikey Johnston before Nathaniel Chalobah tested his luck from outside of the penalty area with a dipping effort which goalkeeper Anthony Patterson claimed at the second attempt.
The real first-half drama unfolded in the final few minutes leading up to the break.
Thomas-Asante was late when he caught Jack Clarke and was appropriately booked by referee Matthew Donohue.
The man in the middle reached for his pocket a minute later when the Albion striker took a heavy touch and, in attempting to retrieve the ball, cleaned out Ballard. Thomas-Asante was duly given his marching orders.
Things got worse for the hosts in first half stoppage time. Styles took a corner from the left and Ekwah, near the penalty spot, was left unmarked and was able to stylishly steer the ball into the top corner, well beyond the reach of Alex Palmer, to the delight of the strong away following.
Sunderland returned with more of a swagger to their play against their depleted opponents.
Midfielder Dan Neil was teed up by Chris Rigg on the edge of the penalty area and he stung the palms of Palmer, who had to help the ball over the bar.
John Swift bent a shot just wide of Patterson’s far post from the edge of the area, but Sunderland themselves came close to killing the game as a contest when Styles cut inside from the left and arrowed a curling shot wide of the outstretching Palmer’s far post.
For West Brom, there was a lack of potency following Thomas-Asante’s dismissal and the Black Cats claimed just their second victory in 12 league matches, ending Albion’s 10-match unbeaten run.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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