STOKE CITY 1 SUNDERLAND 1

SUNDERLAND are back in the relegation zone – but Jermain Defoe’s stoppage-time equaliser means they continue to harbour strong hopes of hauling themselves out of the bottom three before the end of the season.

Defoe held his nerve to convert a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time as the Black Cats came from behind to secure what could prove a priceless point at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium.

Trailing to Marko Arnautovic’s first-half strike, Defoe’s dexterity drew a foul from Geoff Cameron, enabling the former England international to hammer home from the spot.

The draw was a fair result given that neither side played particularly fluently, and while Newcastle’s victory over Crystal Palace means the Black Cats are back in the bottom three, they remain within touching distance of safety.

Sam Allardyce’s side trail their North-East rivals by a point, but continue to have a game in hand and a markedly superior goal difference.

Unsurprisingly, Allardyce opted to stick with the side that earned a goalless draw against Arsenal last weekend. Stoke boss Mark Hughes made five changes, reflecting the defensive problems that had seen the Potters concede four goals in each of their previous three matches.

The changes ensured Stoke were a much more resolute proposition and made for a poor first half in which the two sides largely cancelled each other out.

The hosts aimed a succession of long balls at recalled striker Peter Crouch, and Sunderland tended to follow suit, hurling a series of aimless passes from defence to attack. Predictably, Defoe struggled to get any change out of centre-halves Ryan Shawcross and Geoff Cameron.

Patrick van Aanholt was Sunderland’s most dangerous attacker for much of the first half, and the Dutch full-back drilled wide in the tenth minute before firing a weak effort straight at Stoke goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard shortly after.

Stoke’s first effort came to nothing when Vito Mannone turned Crouch’s header around the post, and the former England international threatened again shortly after when he headed former Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley’s cross wide of the upright.

The best chance of the opening period came in the 34th minute, but Arnautovic failed to make the most of it. Gianelli Imbula released Arnautovic into the lefty-hand side of the area, but the forward, who will represent Austria at this summer’s European Championships, blazed well over.

Defoe forced Haugaard into a routine save with a weak low shot, and the first half ended with Lamine Kone drilling well wide after the Stoke defence struggled to deal with Wahbi Khazri’s corner.

Five minutes into the second half, though, and the game changed completely. Charlie Adam delivered a cross from the left-hand side, and while Crouch was climbing over Younes Kaboul, he was allowed to nod the ball down into the area.

Kone appeared to misread the flight of the ball, and his error enabled Arnautovic to pounce and drill home a crisp low strike from 14 yards. Allardyce was clearly furious at what he perceived to be a foul on Kaboul, but Kone should have dealt with the danger.

Sunderland almost responded with an equaliser, but while Defoe did well to cut into the left-hand side of the box after receiving the ball from van Aanholt, he could only drill his shot over the crossbar.

Allardyce’s response was a double change – Dame N’Doye and Duncan Watmore coming on for Fabio Borini and Khazri – but it took a while for Sunderland’s rejigged line-up to settle and Adam almost doubled Stoke’s lead when he whipped a free-kick narrowly over the top.

The visitors continued to concede possession extremely cheaply, with misplaced passes commonplace, and Mannone did well to hold on to Glenn Whelan’s 20-yard shot after it took a hefty deflection off Yann M’Vila.

Sunderland rarely looked like getting back on level terms, although Defoe did well to juggle the ball in the area with 13 minutes left, only to fire his swivelled shot on the turn well over the bar.

The former England international saw another shot deflect narrowly wide moments later, following some neat interplay with Watmore, but he was up to the task when an opportunity equalise presented itself in the third minute of stoppage time.

Defoe earned the spot-kick himself, drawing a foul from Cameron as he turned neatly close to the edge of the area, and he made no mistake with the conversion, hammering home to provoke a euphoric reaction from the sold-out away end.

Stoke (4-2-3-1): Haugaard; Bardsley, Cameron, Shawcross, Pieters; Whelan, Imbula; Shaqiri (Diouf 77), Adam (Muniesa 85), Arnautovic (Walters 56); Crouch.

Subs (not used): Bachmann (gk), Wollscheid, Bojan, Joselu, Walters.

Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone; Yedlin, Kone, Kaboul, van Aanholt; Kirchhoff (Larsson 77); Borini (N’Doye 59), Cattermole, M’Vila, Khazri (Watmore 59); Defoe.

Subs (not used): Pickford (gk), Jones, O’Shea, Rodwell.