Manchester United maintained their lead at the top of the English Premier League while West Ham United moved off the bottom in an eventful Boxing Day programme, dpa reported.
Dimitar Berbatov scored both goals to help United stay two points clear of Manchester City, who moved ahead of Arsenal into second with a 3-1 win at Newcastle United.
Carlton Cole scored twice as West Ham came from behind to win 3-1 at Fulham, while Tottenham Hotspur, Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City and Wigan Athletic also claimed victories.
Berbatov put United in front early on at Old Trafford and the home side then proceeded to do everything but add to their lead in an utterly dominant second half.
Sunderland held their own in the second half but Berbatov secured the points with a heavily deflected strike on 57 minutes and United eased to a comfortable win.
"Dimitar could have scored four or five today," manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. "He had some terrific opportunities."
"I was disappointed with the score at half-time. We hit the bar and the post. Their keeper has made a couple of good saves and we played some really good football," he added. "It was exciting stuff, but then we just seemed to go into third gear."
Neighbours City were too strong for Newcastle as they claimed a 3- 1 victory at St James' Park, Carlos Tevez scoring twice.
Gareth Barry put City ahead inside two minutes and Tevez made it 2-0 just three minutes later, and though Andy Carroll gave Newcastle hope when he pulled one back with 18 minutes to go, Tevez killed them off with his side's third soon after.
City manager Roberto Mancini was pleased with the win on the anniversary of his arrival at the club.
"I like Boxing Day. Last year, we won; this year, we won," the Italian said.
"I am happy with this first year, but it is my opinion that we need to improve again, we need to work," he added. "Only if we do that can we arrive at the top and win something at the end of the season."
At Craven Cottage, Avram Grant's West Ham side fell behind early to Aaron Hughes's early header, but two goals from Carlton Cole and one from Frederic Piquionne sealed a first away win of the season for the Londoners.
The victory lifted West Ham off the foot of the table into third from bottom, one point above Wolves, who went down 2-1 at home to Wigan Athletic and level on points with Fulham themselves.
It was the first time Cole has scored two goals in a Premier League match and his efforts will be a massive boost to Avram Grant's hopes of remaining as the West Ham manager.
Tottenham stayed fifth after they survived more than an hour with 10 men to clinch a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.
Rafael van der Vaart had put Spurs in front before striker Jermain Defoe was sent off for a challenge that looked relatively innocuous on television replays.
Villa enjoyed plenty of possession but Spurs soaked it up easily enough and then scored a brilliant second with Dutchman Van der Vaart claiming his second goal after great work by Gareth Bale.
Marc Albrighton pulled one back for Villa to set up a grandstand finish, but Tottenham held on to stay in the hunt for at least a top- four berth.
Matt Taylor and Johan Elmander scored the goals as Bolton stayed close behind with a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, while Stoke City climbed to eighth after a 2-0 win at Blackburn Rovers.
The matches between Blackpool and Liverpool, and Everton and Birmingham City were postponed because of the freezing weather.
Third-placed Arsenal and fourth-placed Chelsea clash in Monday's match at the Emirates Stadium.
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