Gyan snatches derby point

Asamoah Gyan bundled in an injury-time equaliser for Sunderland in a 1-1 draw with neighbours Newcastle.

Late equaliser denies Toon derby double

Asamoah Gyan bundled in an injury-time equaliser to rescue a point for Sunderland in a 1-1 draw in the Wear-Tyne derby with Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. Newcastle had led through Nevin Nolan's tenth Premier League goal of the season shortly after half-time, as he back-heeled in from close range following a Joey Barton corner. The visitors were worthy of their lead and looked set to do the double over their neighbours, having thrashed them 5-1 earlier in the season, but Sunderland equalised at the death. Phil Bardsley's drilled shot was parried by Steve Harper and the ball deflected off Gyan's shin, looping over the grounded goalkeeper and into the net, sparking jubilant scenes amongst the home support. Having seen his players underperform so drastically in the defeat at St James' Park in October, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce sent them out for the return under no illusions as to what was required of them. By the time referee Howard Webb's whistle sounded to mark the end of the opening 45 minutes, it was debatable which of the two managers was more pleased.

Bright start

The game got off to a bright start with clear chances at either end, but neither Shola Ameobi nor Darren Bent could capitalise after being put through on goal. Joey Barton's floated ball over the top allowed Ameobi to beat the Black Cats' offside trap and bear down on Gordon, but although his shot beat the Scotland international, it ran agonisingly wide of the post. Sunderland responded and Bent might have opened the scoring three minutes later after being played in by Steed Malbranque. However, after cutting inside central defender Fabricio Coloccini, who otherwise enjoyed an impressive first half, the England striker saw his shot blocked by Harper's foot. Newcastle threatened once again with 12 minutes gone when, after Barton's corner had been half-cleared, Coloccini fired towards the bottom corner and Kieran Richardson hacked off the line. Harper had to get down smartly to keep out Malbranque's 18th-minute drive and Nolan's block accounted for Jordan Henderson's well-struck effort from distance in injury time, although Ameobi had earlier headed over from another Barton corner. Bent had a glimpse of goal four minutes after the restart when he ran on to Bardsley's long ball, but with Harper advancing to meet him, he lifted his lob over the keeper but wide of the post.

Audacious

The miss proved costly within three minutes when Ameobi got up above Anton Ferdinand to meet Barton's corner and head down for Nolan to back-heel audaciously past Gordon from point-blank range. Sunderland were in some disarray as Newcastle dominated possession, although Harper was relived to see Richardson deflected Ahmed Elmohamady's driven 66th-minute cross wide. The home side worked desperately to force their way back into the game but lacked any real guile or craft. With Coloccini and central defensive partner Mike Williamson in imperious form against an impotent strike-force of Bent and Gyan, the minutes ticked away with little sign of an equaliser. But four minutes into injury time Harper failed to hold Bardsley's shot and Gyan bundled the ball home from close range to spare his side's blushes.

Sunderland	Team Statistics	Newcastle United
1	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	2
3	Shots off Target	7
5	Blocked Shots	1
5	Corners	6
16	Fouls	7
4	Offsides	4
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
62.9	Passing Success	67
18	Tackles	18
72.2	Tackles Success	83.3
46.7	Possession	53.3
56	Territorial Advantage	44