Sunderland maintained their unbeaten home record as a late Harry Kane own-goal gave Gus Poyet’s side a share of the spoils in a hard-fought game at the Stadium of Light.
The late equaliser added to the drama in an entertaining game against Tottenham Hotspur in a match that saw both teams create numerous chances in a 2-2 draw, with substitute Will Buckley almost snatching all three points for the Black Cats right at the death.
An explosive start at the Stadium of Light saw both teams score in the opening five minutes, with the visitors grabbing their second at the start of the second half, before Sunderland levelled in the last 10 minutes.
Poyet handed a debut to deadline day signing Ricky Alvarez who was the only change to the starting line up from the side that faced Queens Park Rangers a fortnight ago. Steven Fletcher missed out, with Connor Wickham leading the frontline whilst new boy Alvarez took up a wide role, alternating with Johnson on the other flank for the home side.
The visitors opened the scoring after just two minutes through Nacer Chadli, latching onto a rebound just outside the six yard box after Vito Mannone saved a long distance Emmanuel Adebayor effort.
The visitors’ lead was short lived though, with Sunderland firing level just minutes later from Adam Johnson. The winger cut in from the left flank, twisting past the Tottenham defence to hit a low, curling right foot shot which deflected off Younes Kaboul into Hugo Lloris’s net.
The bright start by both teams continued with Sunderland on the attack straight away down the right wing with Seb Larsson and debutant Alvarez linking up well before Wickham’s effort was cleared. At the other end, Mannone was called into action, standing tall to block an Adebayor shot from close range, giving Spurs a corner which was eventually cleared.
Spurs continued to have the better of possession for the opening thirty minutes, but found it hard to break down the Sunderland back four with Lee Cattermole putting in some well timed tackles in the middle of the park. Mannone was called into action a few times, with the Italian shot stopper comfortably saving chances from Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
Moussa Dembele did come close to grabbing a second goal for Spurs though, just after the half hour mark. The midfield man let rip a long range effort from 30 yards which served before smashing off the Sunderland goal post.
Cattermole continued to impress for the home side with the midfield man putting in a great sliding tackle just before the break. Chadli had burst into the Sunderland box and was destined to test Mannone with a close range effort, before Cattermole slid in to take the ball away from the Belgian midfielder with a great challenge.
Into the second half and Spurs mirrored the bright opening they made at the start of the game, grabbing another early lead.
Danny Rose’s cross from the left hand side was punched down by Mannone, with a scramble in the Sunderland six yard box, ending with Eriksen sliding in to find the back of the net, making it 2-1 to Spurs.
Sunderland looked for an instant response once again, attacking towards a lively south stand but were unable to break down the Spurs defence before the hour mark with Connor Wickham having a powerful effort blocked.
Poyet made a double change just after the hour mark with debutant Alvarez being replaced by Will Buckley whilst Larsson gave way for Emanuele Giaccherini who took up a central role as he did for Italy last week against Norway.
Johnson was the next Black Cats’ player to have an attempt on goal with the Sunderland man letting rip on a powerful shot from 30 yards that narrowly went wide of the Spurs goal, stretching Lloris to his bottom left corner.
At the other end, Spurs pushed for a third and hit the goal frame for a second time in the game. Argentinian Erik Lamela hit a thunderous strike on the edge of the box which clattered against the cross bar before being cleared.
With 12 minutes remaining on the clock, Poyet made his final change of the match bringing on Jordi Gomez for Rodwell whilst Spurs replaced Adebayor with Harry Kane.
Both players were straight into the action, with Gomez winning a free-kick for Sunderland on the left hand side of the Spurs box which he took, with his ball fired across the box, hitting Kane to go into the Spurs net to level the scores at 2-2 with nine minutes remaining.
The home fans were buoyed after watching their side come back twice in the game and as the clock ticked down they cranked up the volume urging their team to go on and get a winner.
It looked like they would get their wish as sub Buckley was narrowly off target with minutes remaining as he let fly from around 25 yards out only to watch his effort flash over the top of the Spurs goal.
