Frederic Kanoute fired West Ham into the FA Cup quarter-finals with the only goal in a tense encounter at Sunderland.

The Frenchman squandered a series of earlier chances before sliding the ball past Thomas Sorensen 14 minutes from time to win the tie.

The Hammers could have been well clear by the time Kanoute produced the decisive moment of the game as he, Paolo di Canio and Frank Lampard were all guilty of bad misses and although Sunderland rallied after the break, there could be few arguments about the result.

Former Newcastle defender Stuart Pearce was outstanding at the back alongside Christian Dailly and Igor Stimac, while Joe Cole showed flashes of his brilliance to relieve the increasing pressure on his side.

Emerson Thome returned to the heart of the Sunderland defence after recovering from a calf injury to boost a side missing Michael Gray, Alex Rae and Don Hutchison through suspension, while John Oster was handed a rare chance to prove his worth in midfield.

West Ham also made two changes as Stimac replaced Finn Hannu Tihinen at the back and Shaka Hislop regained his place in goal from Craig Forrest.

The hordes of travelling supporters were treated to the best and the worst of the enigmatic Kanoute in the opening minutes as he twice raced away from the home defence to give himself scoring opportunities, but then failed to capitalise on either.

The Frenchman wasted Dailly's excellent pass over the top with five minutes gone when his first touch simply gifted the ball to Sorensen, and although he did manage to get a shot away five minutes later from Joe Cole's feed, he sent his effort wide of the keeper's left post.

But more worryingly for Hammers boss Harry Redknapp, Kanoute persistently got himself into offside positions to scupper promising moves.

He finally managed to hit the target a minute before the break with a snapshot, but Sorensen was equal to the task.

For their part, the home side created few chances in the opening 45 minutes, Oster forcing a 31st-minute save from Hislop and Kevin Phillips seeing his follow-up blocked by the keeper, and although Niall Quinn was - as ever - a handful in the air, the Hammers' goal was not under threat often enough to shake the Wearside section of the crowd out of their early kick-off stupor.

In addition, Darren Williams, Thome and Julio Arca were all booked within seven minutes, leaving them walking a tightrope after the break.

West Ham's wastefulness continued to plague them after the break, and with clear-cut chances chances at a premium, the misses were all the more costly.

Di Canio should have scored just three minutes into the second-half when he muscled his way on to the ball after Joe Cole had turned expertly inside the box but shot into the side-netting, and Kanoute turned up wide on the right to cross towards the Italian five minutes later, but Chris Makin got in the way.

But as the half wore on, it was Sunderland who started to call the tune, forcing as series of corners and putting the visitors' defence under intense pressure.

Quinn passed up a good chance on 66 minutes when he failed to control Makin's long ball with just Hislop to beat, but Lampard could do no better five minutes later after Cole put him in on goal.

It took a brave defensive header from Pearce to deny Phillips a clear sight of goal after Quinn brilliantly recycled Makin's cross at the far post, but the deadlock was finally broken seconds later.

This time it was Lampard who turned provider to give Kanoute yet another run at goal, and with Sorensen caught in no man's land, he slid the ball past him to open the scoring.

It could have been 2-0 within a minute when the Frenchman went one-on-one with the Dane again, but he dragged his effort wide of the left post.

Pearce proved his side's saviour once again nine minutes from time when he blocked Oster's point-blank effort, and Hislop had to get down well to claim Schwarz's 84th-minute piledriver as the Black Cats threw everything they had at the Hammers.

Teams:

Sunderland: Sorensen, Makin, Williams, Varga (McCartney 22), Thome, McCann, Schwarz, Arca, Oster, Quinn, Phillips, McCartney (Dichio 83).

Subs Not Used: Macho, Thirlwell, Lumsdon.

Booked: Williams, Thome, Arca.

West Ham: Hislop, Stuart Pearce, Winterburn, Dailly, Schemmel, Stimac, Carrick, Cole, Lampard, Di Canio, Kanoute.

Subs Not Used: Forrest, Tihinen, Ian Pearce, Moncur, Suker.

Booked: Schemmel.

Goals: Kanoute 76.

Att: 36,005

Ref: A Wiley (Burntwood).