Roberto De Zerbi started his tenure as Tottenham manager with a demoralising 1-0 defeat at Sunderland that leaves his side in the Premier League relegation zone.

The Italian was handed a five-year contract over the international break, but he did not enjoy a new manager bounce on Sunday 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, who had done well to manage an earlier 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.

Defeat at the Stadium of Light. pic.twitter.com/8NEQogM0rW

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 12, 2026

Data Debrief: Premier League worst for limp Spurs

It is a desperate situation for Tottenham, who have failed to win in their last 14 Premier League games – Spurs' longest winless streak in the competition.

Moreover, it is now their outright second-longest run without a league victory in their history, behind a streak of 16 between December 1934 and April 1935.

Each of the last two Spurs managers have lost their first Premier League match in charge of the club (Igor Tudor against Arsenal in February, De Zerbi here), after none of the previous nine Spurs managers (including caretakers) had lost their first league match in charge of the club (W6 D3).

They remain one of just two teams in the Premier League this season who have failed to win a match after going behind, along with Wolves. Overall, Spurs have gone behind in 23 different matches, going on to lose 16 of those and draw the other seven.

For Sunderland, though, this was the first time they have defeated Spurs in the Premier League since April 3, 2010, ending a run of 15 games without a win against them.