Black Cats held at home

Sunderland were held to a controversial 1-1 draw by Everton at the Stadium of Light on Boxing Day.

Sunderland draw 1-1 with Everton on Boxing Day

Sunderland were held to a controversial 1-1 draw by Everton at the Stadium of Light in their Premier League fixture on Boxing Day. A deflected effort from substitute Jack Colback on 26 minutes put the Black Cats into the lead, but the hosts conceded the equaliser just six minutes into the second half. Leon Osman fell down on his own inside the Sunderland area but the referee wrongly awarded a penalty kick to Everton, which Leighton Baines blasted home with ease. Sunderland had a number of chances during the remainder of the half, but had to settle for a point in the end.

First-half action

So often this season, the Black Cats have dominated the opening stages of games and failed to take advantage of the chances they have created, a failing which ultimately cost Steve Bruce his job. However, on Monday the story was markedly different as they endured a torrid opening 20 minutes or so. Everton, themselves on an upward curve after their midweek victory over Swansea City, dominated the early exchanges and created at least three gilt-edged opportunities to take the lead. Tim Cahill, who has not scored for his club since 20th December last year, might have ended his drought with just seven minutes gone when full-back Tony Hibbert's long ball played him in on the right side of the penalty area. The Australia international struck his shot from a tight angle well, but Keiren Westwood beat the ball away. Cahill should have done much better seven minutes later when he was presented with a free header from Baines' corner, but powered his effort well wide. Striker Louis Saha was equally wasteful in similar circumstances two minutes later, this time with Royston Drenthe the supplier, as the defensive resilience which has returned under Martin O'Neill deserted Sunderland. Their cause was not aided with 21 minutes gone by Titus Bramble's premature exit to injury, which saw Phil Bardsley switch from left-back to right-back, John O'Shea push inside with Wes Brown and Kieran Richardson drop in on the left with Colback replacing him in midfield. But it was Sunderland who took the lead five minutes later and it was the newcomer who did the damage. Stephane Sessegnon skipped past Sylvain Distin and Hibbert before slipping the ball to the unmarked Colback, whose shot clipped the recovering Frenchman and flew past the helpless Tim Howard. In an instant, the uncertainty and lack of cohesion which had characterised the Black Cats' performance during the early stages evaporated, and they started to take the game to Everton with Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner repeatedly finding space.

Second-half thrill

However, Everton got themselves back into the game within six minutes of the restart, although they did so in controversial circumstances. Osman was allowed to work his way into the penalty area, where he went down as Brown and Lee Cattermole closed in on him. Referee Howard Webb took his time, but eventually pointed to the spot, although replays suggested that neither Sunderland man had touched the midfielder and that he had actually kicked the ground. But as the home fans bayed, the nerveless Baines smashed his spot-kick high to Westwood's left to level. Clearly aggrieved by the turn of events, the Black Cats set about the task of restoring their lead in determined fashion, and Hibbert had to clear away a Richardson corner from under his crossbar while Saha headed Sebastian Larsson's effort from the other side on to the roof of his own net. However, Westwood was relieved to see Osman head across the face of goal after meeting Drenthe's driven 63rd-minute cross. Sunderland battered away in the search for a last-gasp winner, but the closest they came to getting it was when Distin deflected Sessegnon's 90th-minute cross into the side-netting.

Sunderland	Team Statistics	Everton
1	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	0
2	Shots on Target	2
3	Shots off Target	6
7	Blocked Shots	3
5	Corners	6
7	Fouls	17
5	Offsides	3
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
73.8	Passing Success	71
16	Tackles	14
75	Tackles Success	85.7
48.2	Possession	51.8
49.8	Territorial Advantage	50.2
374	Total Passes	393
19	Total Crosses	21