Asamoah Gyan revealed he was "relieved" to be back on the scoresheet after making a successful cameo off the substitutes' bench against Blackburn.
The Ghanaian found the net in the 89th minute to seal a 3-0 win after coming on for Darren Bent in the closing stages of the game.
Gyan's seventh goal of the season was a cracker as he found the corner of the goal with a curling shot from the edge of the box.
Danny Welbeck and Darren Bent also scored, with Bent netting his first goal in six games to take his tally to 11 for the season.
Gyan, who hadn't scored in his previous six games, said: "Darren did well for his goal and he is relieved now. As an attacker if you do not score it gets frustrating.
"I didn't score in the last few games, although my performance was alright. But as an attacker I needed to put the ball in the back of the net and I am relieved too."
"We created a lot of chances in the last game without scoring and we were a bit down. But today we proved to everybody we can score and that is one of the most important things."
And the Ghanaian highlighted a stroke of luck as key to the result as Welbeck's shot took a big deflection to beat Blackburn keeper Mark Bunn and give Sunderland an early lead.
That break came after Gyan and his team-mates toiled in front of goal as they went down 2-0 at home to Blackpool on December 28 despite having more than 30 shots during the 90 minutes.
"It was a great game today," said Gyan. "We started so well with the first goal, which kept our confidence going.
"Even in the last game we did well so we just had to maintain our performance. Everything was great today.
"I said to one of my colleagues that today is our day, unlike the last game. But in football, everything goes and luck counts."
Source: www.safc.com