Sunderland are off the bottom of the Championship after two late goals earned Chris Coleman's side a 2-0 victory at Burton Albion.
The result marked Coleman's first win in charge of the club and it arrived on a day when fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers were thumped 5-1 by league leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Elsewhere there were wins for three of the division's top six sides, while third-placed Sheffield United were held at home by Birmingham City.
BLACK CATS ENJOY FIRST WIN SINCE AUGUST
James Vaughan and George Honeyman scored in the dying minutes of Sunderland's clash with Burton to earn manager Coleman a morale-boosting triumph.
The Black Cats had lost three and drawn five of their previous eight games in the Championship and another draw looked to be on the cards before Vaughan headed home Bryan Oviedo's corner in the 85th minute.
Honeyman then scored from close range to make sure of a win that moves Sunderland up to 22nd in the Championship, above Burton and Bolton.
RAMPANT WOLVES EXTEND WINNING STREAK
Having beaten Leeds United 4-1 in midweek, Wolves went one better and ran out 5-1 winners against Bolton.
Willy Boly headed Nuno Espirito Santo's side into the lead after just 13 minutes at Molineux, and Leo Bonatini added a second 12 minutes later when he scored with his head after good work by Diogo Jota.
The second half was a similar story with Ivan Cavaleiro making it 3-0 on 62 minutes after Romain Saiss was fouled in the penalty area, but Will Buckley gave Bolton a lifeline with a goal from inside the area with 16 minutes left to play.
Wolves' class showed in the last 10 minutes as Cavaleiro lashed a fourth into the top corner before goalkeeper John Ruddy set Jota free and the Portuguese playmaker ran through to score in the ensuing one-on-one with Ben Alnwick.
The win left Wolves seven points clear at the top of the table, ahead of second-placed Cardiff City's trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
SAIZ SHINES AS LEEDS WIN AT BARNSLEY
Samuel Saiz scored his ninth goal of the season as Leeds picked up their third victory in seven Championship games, winning 2-0 at Barnsley.
Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen went into the game in desperate need of all three points after seeing his side suffer seven defeats in their previous nine league games, but Barnsley afforded Saiz the kind of space that he thrives on and he took full advantage in the 23rd minute, running to the edge of the penalty area and slotting a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
In-form Macedonian winger Ezgjan Alioski then took centre stage with an all-action performance and a goal on the cusp of half-time, curling the ball into the net from the edge of the box.
The result sets Leeds up for a mouth-watering clash against Aston Villa, who visit Elland Road on Friday on the back of a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town at Villa Park.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Middlesbrough suffered a third defeat in seven league games, 3-0 at home to Derby County courtesy of a Matej Vydra hat-trick, while promotion-chasing Bristol City scored three times in 21 minutes to come from 2-0 down and beat Hull City 3-2, heaping the pressure on Tigers boss Leonid Slutsky.
Fulham beat Millwall 1-0 thanks to Oliver Norwood's first-half penalty, while Leon Clarke scored in the 71st minute to rescue a point for Sheffield United in a 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham and Reading were held to a goalless draw by Sheffield Wednesday.
Norwich's winless run was extended to six games after Preston North End salvaged a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road thanks to Tom Barkhuizen's second-half equaliser, and the game ended in bizarre circumstances when a local referee had to step in unexpectedly to cover for an injured fourth official.
