Elliot Embleton scored the only goal as Sunderland beat Portsmouth to clinch their first win of 2022 and climb back into the automatic promotion places.
Embleton struck five minutes before half-time at the Stadium of Light in a first period dominated by the visitors, but which the Black Cats finished strongly.
Sunderland then controlled the second half and made sure they kept a clean sheet to claim all three points.
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The win lifted Sunderland one place to second in the table, with Wigan ahead of them only on goal difference - albeit the Latics still have four games in hand.
And they are also a point clear of third-placed Rotherham, although the Millers have two games in hand of them.
Lee Johnson made two changes to the side that drew at Accrington last weekend, one of which saw new signing Danny Batth his debut, with the centre-back replacing the injured Bailey Wright.
And the other change saw Corry Evans return after missing the last two games as he recovered from concussion, and he came in for Alex Pritchard who also missed out due to injury.
Pompey boss Danny Cowling made three changes to the side that started the midweek draw at AFC Wimbledon, with Clark Robertson, Ronan Curtis, and Reeco Hackett starting, and Connor Ogilvie, Lee Brown, and George Hirst dropping to the bench.
Portsmouth made all the early running, with Sunderland penned back for much of the opening half-hour.
The Black Cats also made a series of defensive errors, and were fortunate not to be punished.
Tom Flanagan tried to turn inside the penalty area and was challenged, and he only just recovered in time to clear when it looked like the visitors might get a shot away.
Then goalkeeper Thorben Hoffmann saw a throw out blocked, and the loose ball came to Marcus Harness 25 yards out but he blazed over the empty goal when he should have scored.
Sunderland's first chance came midway through the half when a loose pass from Ronan Curtis just outside his own penalty area was intercepted by Ross Stewart, Embleton picked up the ball and curled a shot at goal which Gavin Bazunu parried away and then when the ball was played back into the middle, Portsmouth scrambled it away.
Sunderland grew in confidence and ten minutes before the break, good pressure from Leon Dajaku forced Joe Morrell into a mistake out on the left, but Dajaku's curling effort from outside the box went wide of the far post.
But Sunderland took the lead on 40 minutes, and again it was the hosts' pressing that caused the problem.
Hayden Carter gave the ball away on the left under pressure from Dajaku, it came to Stewart who drove into the area and slipped his pass into the path of Embleton who slotted low across the keeper and into the bottom right-hand corner.
Sunderland carried on in the second half as they had finished the first, with better control of the game in midfield.
The Black Cats found it difficult to create clear-cut chances however, and were largely restricted to pot shots with Dan Neil firing wide while Embleton saw a tame effort saved.
Pompey's best chance came in the final minute of normal time, but sub Hirst sent a free header over the bar from a corner.
How they lined up
Sunderland: Hoffmann, Flanagan, Batth, Doyle, Gooch, Evans, Neil, Cirkin, Embleton (Winchester 83), Dajaku (O'Brien 88), Stewart. Subs not used: Patterson, Xhemajli, Diamond, T Hume, Kimpioka
Booked: Flanagan
Portsmouth: Bazunu, Carter, Raggett, Robertson (Jacobs 78), Romeo, Morrell, Thompson (Williams 70), Hackett, Harness, Curtis (Hirst 70), Walker. Subs not used: Stewart, Brown, Freeman, Ogilvie
Booked: Romeo, Williams
Referee: David Rock (Hertfordshire)
Attendance: 32,220
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