Sunderland drop into the relegation zone despite drawing at Stoke

Sunderland dropped into the relegation zone despite holding Stoke City to a battling 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium.

The visitors benefited from an early error by Asmir Begovic, who spilled Will Buckley’s low cross from the right and allowed Connor Wickham to bundle the ball over the line.

Stoke reacted well to falling behind but Jermain Defoe had an excellent chance to double the Black Cats' lead before Charlie Adam thumped an equaliser into the net from the edge of the area.

John O'Shea suffered a nasty injury moments before half-time as he got Philipp Wollscheid's studs to his face but the Irishman played on and carried his side to a point.

Wickham and Billy Jones could both have claimed a surprise win for the visitors in the second half but were denied by brilliant blocks from Ryan Shawcross and Begovic respectively.

2’ – GOAL! Stoke 0-1 Sunderland. (Wickham) Buckley does brilliantly to create the space for a cross from the right, but Begovic looks like he’s claimed it before letting the ball squirm out of his hands for a Wickham tap-in.

26’ – CHANCE: Cattermole picks out Defoe with a brilliant outside-of-the-foot pass from the halfway line which evades Wollscheid. Through-on-goal, albeit at a tight angle on the right, Defoe smashes it into the side-netting.

27’ – GOAL! Stoke City 1-1 Sunderland. (Adam) The Scot proves he can hammer it with his right foot as well as his left and he slams the ball into the top right-hand corner after a lay-off from Arnautovic. There's no saving that shot but Sunderland, and van Aanholt in particular, should have closed Arnautovic down.

45’ – OUCH! O'Shea is down and it looks very nasty after getting Wollscheid's studs across his face.

59’ – CHANCE: What a chance, what a waste, what a tackle! Wickham steals the ball from Wollscheid and has a clear run on goal, he takes a slightly heavy touch and just as he is about to pull the trigger, Shawcross slides in to clear.

70’ – CHANCE: Pantillimon with a brilliant block to deny Mame Diouf. Adam with a chipped pass into the area which finds the Senegalese forward at the far post, he control on his chest before smashing it towards goal only for the Romanian stopper to somehow deflect it over.

Stoke have kept only four clean sheets in their last 19 Premier League home games.

Sunderland have won just one of their last 10 Premier League games.

Connor Wickham is Sunderland’s top scorer in the Premier League this season with just five goals.

Will Sunderland live to regret their misses in the second-half? After surviving a barrage of chances in the first-half, Sunderland had the better of it in the second period and both Connor Wickham and Billy Jones had glorious opportunities to win the game. They are now in the bottom three with just five to play, the last two of which are away to Arsenal and Chelsea. Yikes.

John O’Shea (Sunderland): The Sunderland captain showed real leadership qualities as he played the whole second half despite a horrible facial injury in the final moments of the opening period. This game won’t have done anything for his looks but may be what keeps Sunderland up in the end.

Stoke City: Begovic 7, Cameron 6, Shawcross 8, Wollscheid 5, Pieters 6, N'Zonzi 7, Adam 7, Walters 7, Ireland 6, Arnautovic 7, Diouf 7. Subs: Bardsley N/A, Odemwingie N/A, Crouch N/A.

Sunderland: Pantilimon 8, Jones 6, O'Shea 8, Coates 8, van Aanholt 7, Jordi Gomez 6, Cattermole 7, Rodwell 6, Buckley 6, Defoe 5, Wickham 6. Subs: Graham 6.