Winston Reid’s injury time strike proved to be the difference as West Ham United laboured to a 1-0 win over Premier League strugglers Sunderland at London Stadium.

The Hammers enjoyed the better of the first half and went close when Dimitri Payet hit the post, but looked bereft of attacking ideas as the game wore on.

They were indebted to a fine save from Adrian at the start of the second half which prevented them going behind.

With time almost up Reid popped up with a long range effort to give the Hammers a much needed second home league win of the season.

They will hope to build on the result for the visit of Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday night.

Slaven Bilic was forced into making one change from the side which impressed in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace last week after Aaron Cresswell’s questionable red card at Selhurst Park.

The suspended left-back made way for summer signing Edimilson Fernandes as he made his first league start for the club.

Sunderland, meanwhile, introduced Steven Pienaar and Lamine Kone to the starting XI in an attempt to arrest the shocking form which saw them come into the game without a Premier League win.

They did little in the opening exchanges to suggest they could do so as Payet began to set the tone with some intricate link up play.

The Frenchman was involved throughout early Hammers pressure and his curling effort from 20 yards almost provided the breakthrough after five minutes.

He was at his sparkling best again in the 10th minute as he turned, allowed the ball to run across his body and drove at the heart of the Sunderland back four.

After riding two challenges and jinking beyond John O’Shea, Payet could only fire straight at Jordan Pickford who did just enough to parry the effort to safety.

The fluidity which informed so much of West Ham’s display against Palace was once again on show and Sunderland struggled to deal with their perpetual movement early on.

They were having particular issues marshalling Payet and last season’s Hammer of the Year was inches from scoring his fourth goal of the campaign in the 26th minute.

Again his footwork on the edge of the box gave him time to strike from just outside the area and he whipped a low shot back across Pickford’s goal.

The young Black Cats stopper had no response as the ball cannoned back off the base of his post and just eluded the following up Mark Noble.

Perhaps spurred into life by the near miss, Sunderland enjoyed their best spell of the half, which saw Jermaine Defoe draw a save from Adrian and Patrick Van Aanholt blaze over after a mazy run.

The hosts still managed to re-establish their dominance just before the interval and were knocking on the door as the game ticked into two-minutes of added time.

Simone Zaza almost gave them the lead in spectacular fashion after a deflected cross dropped invitingly in the centre of the box.

The former Juventus man launched himself into the air and sent an acrobatic overhead kick just wide as his search for a first goal at the club goes on.

A sluggish start to the second half from the Hammers led to Sunderland creating the best opening of the game inside a minute of the restart.

The chance sprung from a defensive slip as a deflected through ball ran perfectly for Wahbi Khazri to send him through on goal.

With just Adrian standing in his way, the Sunderland man took his time but could not beat the Spaniard who did well to bide his time and not overcommit.

The chance set the tone for an open start to the second period and David Moyes’ side were more forward thinking in the second half.

The ragged nature of the game ensured both sides struggled to gain a foothold in proceedings and created few clear cut chances.

When an opening was created the standard of finishing was often found wanting, particularly when Fernandes blazed over from 18 yards.

While a draw did little to help his side, Moyes opted to introduce defensive cover and sit back late on.

The decision would prove to backfire as West Ham pushed forward and found a winner with virtually the last kick of the match.

A short corner was worked to Reid who fired a low effort from the edge of the box and the unsighted Pickford could do little as it nestled in his bottom corner.

The strike lifted the mood around the stadium, which had been turning sour, and Hammers fans departed into the night in joyous mood.

West Ham: Adrian; Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna, Antonio (Feghouli 63), Obiang, Noble (C), Fernandes, Lanzini (Fletcher 84), Payet, Zaza (Calleri 69)

Subs not used: Spiegel; Nordtveit, Collins, Oxford

Sunderland: Pickford; Manquillo, O’Shea (C), Kone, Van Aanholt, Rodwell, N’Dong, Wantmore (Gooch 75), Pienaar (McNair 79), Khazri (Jones 86), Defoe

Subs not used: Domingues, Djilobodji, Anichebe, Honeyman

Referee: Bobby Madley

Bookings: N’Dong (27 foul on Payet), Pienaar (40 dissent), Defoe (68 handball)

Attendance: 56,985