The Baggies fell behind on 10 minutes when Nicky Shorey turned Asamoah Gyan’s cross into his own net while under pressure from Ahmed Elmohamady, and Gyan then fired into the side-netting as relegation-threatened Sunderland tried to end their dismal run of form.
They were pegged back on 28 minutes when Jerome Thomas’ cross struck Nedum Onuoha and fell into the path of Jonas Olsson, and he headed into the path of Peter Odemwingie to slide the ball home.
Sunderland came back strong and went ahead once more just three minutes later when Kieran Richardson laid off a free-kick for Phil Bardsley to blast the ball into the back of the net.
Once again West Brom fought back and nine minutes into the second half Youssouf Mulumbu exchanged passes with Odemwingie before firing home.
Olsson then forced a stunning reflex save from Simon Mignolet as Albion’s confidence continued to grow, and their winner arrived on 72 minutes when Odemwingie pulled the ball back for Paul Scharner to slot home.