The Italian was handed a five-year contract over the international break, but he did not enjoy a new manager bounce as Nordi Mukiele's deflected second-half effort settled a close encounter at The Stadium of Light.

Brian Brobbey headed Enzo Le Fee's dinked cross over, and Granit Xhaka dragged wide for Sunderland, which had done well to manage a bright Tottenham start.

Stand-in Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky then denied Brobbey at point-blank range and Robin Roefs did the same to Dominic Solanke at the other end, as two golden opportunities were squandered in first-half stoppage-time.

But Mukiele was rewarded for a marauding run from the right with a shot that deflected heavily off Micky van de Ven and past a stranded Kinsky in the 61st minute.

Cristian Romero went off in tears after colliding with Kinsky, with that incident leaving the Spurs keeper needing a bandage, and the visitors were unable to muster a late response as they saw their winless league run stretch to 14 games, keeping them 18th in the table with six games to play.

"I'm sorry because we didn't deserve to lose the game," De Zerbi said.

"We played a good game, maybe not enough to win, but we were unlucky in a few situations in the first half.

"I can be a big brother, father; they don't need a coach. They don't need to improve football. They can play better, and they will play better once we reach a different level of confidence."

But Zerbi is relishing the challenge ahead of him

"I'm sure if we are able to win a game, then everything will change," he said.

"I cannot say anything to players because they gave their best in terms of attitude and spirit. We can play better for sure, and you can feel better. We have to work on that. 

"My work is not so much on the pitch because they are good guys, and I am sorry for them. I want to give them confidence in what they need.

"Tactically, we played a good first half. With the ball and without the ball. We don't have confidence to play great football, but we did what we have been working on this week. The players can play better if they are feeling confident."

Before this win, Sunderland had failed to beat Spurs in the Premier League since April 2010, a run of 15 games.

There was a stroke of luck about this winner, but the defender felt it was just reward for taking the chance to shoot.

"In football, you have to take a chance, and that's what I did. I took the shot, and it went in, so I am really happy for the performance of the team," Mukiele said.

"The energy is very important after we lost three games in a row. We were at home, it was our tempo and our rules.

"We started very strong, and the season is very long. We deserve where we are today because we work hard. 

"Now is a bonus, and now we have six games to show where we are. We have to stay humble."

Back-to-back wins have left Sunderland well in the congested hunt for European football next season, but boss Regis Le Bris is letting others do the talking on that front.

"Not me directly [talking about Europe], but I know the players are talking behind me!" Le Bris joked.

"We want to be a top-10 team, and we want to achieve that consistency. We still have a lot to do, and we want to enjoy this period."