The Hammers travel to Sunderland on Monday night looking to record back-to-back Barclays Premier League victories.
Wednesday's 2-1 win over Hull took West Ham to eleventh in the table and another victory on Monday would represent a huge step towards safety.
Here whufc.com takes a look back at six memorable wins over the Mackems.
Sunderland 0-1 West Ham United
Premier League
23 November 2008
The Hammers' last league win at the Stadium of Light came in 2008 as the first part of a double over the Black Cats.
Valon Behrami notched the only goal of the game as the Londoners kept a second successive clean sheet.
They went on to finish ninth in the Premier League, while Sunderland were down in 16th, just two points clear of relegation.
Sunderland 0-2 West Ham United
Championship
4 December 2004
West Ham were en route to promotion when they made the long journey to Sunderland in December 2004.
It was a successful trip as Alan Pardew's side notched twice without reply to take all three points.
A red card to the hosts' Steven Caldwell helped West Ham on their way, and they took the lead on 59 minutes through Marlon Harewood.
Teddy Sheringham's final minute goal sealed the victory.
West Ham United 2-0 Sunderland
Premier League
22 March 2003
West Ham moved out of the bottom three for the first time in four months with a much needed victory at home to Sunderland.
The attacking trio of Jermain Defoe, Frederic Kanoute and Les Ferdinand gave the Mackems defence the run around as the Hammers took all three points.
Defoe got the first midway through the opening period when he swivelled and placed a shot past Thomas Sorensen. Kanoute replaced the injured Ferdinand at half-time and put the game to bed with a cool finish.
Kanoute runs through to score against Sunderland in 2003
West Ham United 6-0 Sunderland
First Division
11 October 1992
A brace from Mark Robson inspired West Ham to a thumping win over Sunderland in 1992.
There were also goals for Alvin Martin, Martin Allen, Trevor Morley and Kevin Keen as the Wearsiders left east London empty handed.
The emphatic win sent the Hammers up to fifth in the table in a season which they went onto finish second in the league, gaining promotion to the Premier League.
West Ham United 5-0 Sunderland
Second Division
18 October 1989
Eamonn Dolan was the catalyst for a big home win over the Mackems as the Hammers continued their good early season form.
A crowd of just over 20,000 turned up to see Dolan net twice, half of his tally for the season, with three of his teammates also getting in on the act.
Kevin Keen, Martin Allen and Stuart Slater scored a goal apiece to round off a miserable day for their visitors from the North East.
Eamonn Dolan in his playing days with the Hammers
West Ham United 8-0 Sunderland
First Division
19 October 1968
Geoff Hurst ran riot against The Black Cats, netting an incredible double hat-trick as the Hammers recorded a huge win.
Hurst stole the show with six goals of his own but Trevor Brooking and Bobby Moore also managed to get their names on the score sheet.
The striker's haul helped to take him to an impressive 31 goals by the end of the season as he helped fire West Ham to an eighth place finish whilst Sunderland were well below them finishing 17th.