Sunderland were unable to make it seven wins in a row against North East rivals Newcastle United after a late goal from Aleksandar Mitrovic cancelled out Jermain Defoe’s first-half opener.
Sunderland had the better of the game and deservedly went ahead after Newcastle failed to deal with Fabio Borini’s shot and Defoe slotted home.
But for some top-class saves from Magpies’ goalkeeper Rob Elliot, Sunderland would have been out of sight, but their inability to kill the game off came back to bite them when Mitrovic headed in Georginio Wijnaldum’s cross with just seven minutes remaining.
The Black Cats will have left St James’ Park knowing that they should have won the game and moved into 17th place in the table, but alas they will go into the international break still in the bottom three after Norwich’s win at West Brom.
Here’s how we rated the Sunderland players during an intense Tyne-Wear Derby
