on 16 january 2015, defoe joined premier league club sunderland after agreeing to a three-and-a-half-year deal, as part of a player exchange deal sending jozy altidore to toronto fc, after completing only 11 months of his four-year deal with toronto. he made his sunderland debut the following day against former club tottenham. defoe started the match but was goalless when he was substituted after 75 minutes, ending his record of scoring on his first appearance for every club he has played for. defoe scored his first sunderland goal on his home debut in a 2–0 victory over burnley on 31 january 2015. his second goal came the following week on 7 february 2015, where he scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw away to swansea city. on 5 april, he scored the only goal in the tyne–wear derby victory over newcastle with a 22-yard volley to end a sequence of eight matches without a win, and their first victory under the management of dick advocaat. the emotion of scoring the goal caused him to cry. on 9 may, defoe scored his fourth goal of the season in a 2–0 win against everton at goodison park, a result which moved sunderland out of the relegation zone and gave everton their first home defeat of 2015.