Given that recent win and that they were unbeaten in the previous 10 H2H meetings (W4 D6), it was no surprise that Sunderland began the match on the front foot.
They put the visitors under plenty of pressure in the first 15 minutes, but a tame Alex Pritchard shot after a great solo run was their only effort on target.
Having barely troubled the hosts’ penalty area, Hull almost scored a beautiful team goal on the half-hour, which began with a driving run from Lewie Coyle before intricate touches from Tyler Morton and Ozan Tufan picked out Coyle again as he entered the box, but goalkeeper Anthony Patterson was equal to his shot.
The cagey nature of the first half carried over into the second, as it took until beyond the hour mark for either goalkeeper to be tested.
It was the home side who came close, as a cross was cleared to Trai Hume at the edge of the area and he fired a half-volley goalwards, but Ryan Allsop reacted well.
The Black Cats’ tails were now up; in the following five minutes both Nazariy Rusyn and Jobe Bellingham shot narrowly wide after being teed up by Jack Clarke.
However, it was Liam Rosenior’s men who took the lead with 19 minutes remaining.
A poor corner was played back to its taker, Morton, who was more clinical with his second cross as he picked out Fábio Carvalho.
The Liverpool loanee connected sweetly with a volley which took a deflection on its way past Patterson and into the net.
Sunderland threw men forward in the latter stages, but they were met by stout Hull defending which secured the away victory.
The win takes the Tigers above Michael Beale’s men in the table and into the play-off places for the time being, with the Black Cats reeling from a third consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lewie Coyle (Hull City)