All even in North East derby

The Tyne-Wear spoils had to be shared as Newcastle and Sunderland fought out a 1-1 draw at St James' Park.

Ameobi penalty saves Newcastle pride

The Tyne-Wear spoils had to be shared as Newcastle and Sunderland fought out a 1-1 draw at St James' Park. Djibril Cisse's 32nd minute opener was eventually cancelled out by Shola Ameobi's penalty midway through the second half in a high-octane affair. The draw does little to improve the fortunes of either side, although Newcastle will no doubt be relieved to inch away from the relegation spots by finding the equaliser. The tight scoreline fails to reflect what began as an end-to-end affair, although it was Sunderland who proved the most dangerous - Kieran Richardson striking the post from a free-kick before Cisse gave The Black Cats the lead. Newcastle continued to chase the game after the break, and were handed a controversial breakthrough from the spot as Steed Malbranque tangled with Steven Taylor in the box. Ameobi duly obliged from 12 yards, but Michael Chopra might have still won the game for the away side late on had he not chosen to square poorly for Kenwyne Jones.

Opening exchanges

Ricky Sbragia's men would have taken the lead with 20 minutes gone had Richardson's free-kick not come back off the post and had debutant Kevin Nolan not cleared Jones' follow-up off the line. Two minutes later, Andy Carroll looped a header on to Marton Fulop's crossbar, but as Ameobi - a surprise inclusion after five games out with a knee injury - struggled to make the most of a series of half-chances, the pressure mounted. Ameobi passed up a glorious opportunity when he fired high over after a good link-up down the right between Taylor and Damien Duff with 27 minutes gone, and Cisse took advantage when his chance arrived six minutes later. He just about managed to hold his run to collect Dean Whitehead's through ball, and after Harper had blocked his initial effort, the Frenchman stabbed the rebound into the empty net. The air of doom and gloom which has engulfed St James' for much of the season returned with a vengeance, although Carroll almost lifted it four minutes before the break when he blasted a left-footed shot inches wide. With Jones and Cisse causing all kinds of problems for the home defence, the game had developed into something of a white-knuckle ride, although the Magpies returned knowing they had to commit men to the search for an equaliser if they were to escape with their dignity and their hopes of top-flight survival intact. The game resumed with a flurry as Nolan forced Fulop into a regulation save and George McCartney cleared an Ameobi header off his own line, before Danny Collins got in a vital challenge on the striker before he could convert Jose Enrique's 52nd-minute pass. Duff was rightly booked for diving in the box as Anton Ferdinand withdrew his foot in the challenge, but Newcastle were finally making their presence felt as Sunderland retreated and tried to hit them on the counter.

Ameobi equaliser

The visitors briefly managed to stem the tide, but they were pegged back with 68 minutes gone after Malbranque was controversially adjudged to have felled Taylor inside the box. Ameobi took charge of the spot-kick and blasted it high to Fulop's left to send the Tyneside contingent into raptures. Sunderland's response was swift and concerted, Sebastien Bassong having to block Jones' 73rd-minute effort and Harper saving substitute Andy Reid's follow-up as the balance shifted once again. Chopra squared poorly beyond Jones with the goal gaping and Reid smashed a left-foot missile inches wide with the last kick of the game, but neither side was able to find a winner and the final whistle brought warm applause from both sets of supporters.

Newcastle United	Team Statistics	Sunderland
1	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	1
4	Shots on Target	5
5	Shots off Target	8
6	Blocked Shots	3
4	Corners	3
14	Fouls	22
4	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	4
0	Red Cards	0
72.8	Passing Success	68.1
25	Tackles	23
80	Tackles Success	69.6
53.4	Possession	46.6
58.8	Territorial Advantage	41.2