This was a game with 0-0 written all over it, a game featuring two teams short on confidence and low on ideas, with critical fan bases who expect more and managers under pressure. The thing is, no one told Diafra Sakho.
When the Senegalese forward rifled home with just two minutes left of the 90, after excellent work by Mark Noble, it was like a weight was lifted from the crowd. Previously quiet, it suddenly sounded as if the European gates had opened, and the Irons were back with a 1-0 win to end the bad streak, which allowed everyone to smile.
James Collins was a rock at the back and full-backs Carl Jenkinson and Aaron Creswell a constant menace with crosses from deep, and Stewart Downing showed some of the form he had before Christmas, but elsewhere, there was frustration.
Alex Song still looks worryingly off the pace, and a frightening number of crosses just seemed to be headed away as the lone forward figure of Sakho struggled to cope. However, the often criticised captain Kevin Nolan put in a strong shift, and he was ably supported by the hard-working Noble.
With Carlton Cole on in the second half, things also improved. It would be wrong to say West Ham deserved the win -- no one deserved any credit from this mess of a game - but at least, the home side kept up a constant pressure, and the Black Cats found it hard to get the ball away for long periods late in the match.
With Jermain Defoe returning to the club he left in acrimonious circumstances back in 2004, there was always a worry that -- as so often in the past -- the striker would wreak some revenge on the fans who barracked him every time he touched the ball.
As it was, Defoe was kind on his old club this time, blasting an excellent early opportunity high and wide just when every Hammers supporter thought the net would bulge. It was a massive let off, and new Sunderland interim manager Dick Advocaat threw his hands up in frustration.
This was no advertisement for the Premier League, and there were periods in a shocking first half when every time one side attacked, you wondered who would be the first to break the move down with a misplaced pass or poor control.
However, it was the type of game in which Sunderland would have wanted to try to build some momentum in their late season scramble for points. They almost got one too, but the slide-rule shot past keeper Costel Pantilimon by Sakho was so late there was to be no coming back.
Some results are more important than the performances, though -- at least according to managers -- and it is very easy to see this game in terms of what West Ham have achieved this season. With the win and the solitary goal, Sam Allardyce's side have equalled their scoring record (40 goals) and points total (also 40) for the whole of 2013-14.
At the end of a difficult period of matches, in which the Hammers played top-half sides, Allardyce and his men are in a period when they play teams in the bottom four.
A good finish is still within reach and, perhaps more importantly for neutrals and the division itself, West Ham are likely to have a strong say on who will be playing Championship football next season.
Hopefully, some of the entertainment on view in those games will be better than that which was served up against Sunderland.