Black Cats held by plucky Latics

Sunderland's winless run is extended to 11 games after they are held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wigan.

Jones strike earns Sunderland a point

Sunderland's winless run was extended to 11 games as Kenwyne Jones struck to cancel out Mohamed Diame's stunning opener. Diame had put Wigan ahead by evading several challenges and charging into the box before hitting a thumping drive into the far corner. The Black Cats battled back well and felt they should have had a penalty in the 28th minute when Andy Reid was sent sprawling in the box, only for referee Stuart Attwell to wave the protests away. Before the break Jones also saw his goal-bound shot deflected onto the post. Sunderland looked the livelier of the two sides after the restart and drew level in the 64th minute when Jones headed a pin-point Jordan Henderson cross beyond Chris Kirkland. A drab 0-0 draw with Stoke last Monday meant victory over the Latics was a must for the Black Cats, but Diame's 20th-minute opener, as sweet a strike as he could have wished for, came with the run of play and the visitors were good value for their lead.

Opportunity

Paul Scharner had earlier passed up a glorious opportunity when he miskicked in front of goal after former Sunderland target Maynor Figueroa, Hugo Rodallega and James McCarthy had combined to open up the home defence with embarrassing ease. Figueroa had also whistled a long-range effort just over and Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon was less than convincing as he parried Rodallega's 42nd-minute overhead kick. Bruce's men were painfully short of both ideas and confidence as strikers Darren Bent and Jones saw too little of the ball to make a real impact. The Trinidad and Tobago international was unfortunate to see a 30th-minute shot glance off Figueroa and clip the outside of the post, while goalkeeper Kirkland was a relieved man when the ball landed on the roof of his net after he had thrown out a hand to block Lee Cattermole's rising drive 10 minutes later. But in truth, central defenders Titus Bramble and Gary Caldwell barely had to break sweat during a desperately disappointing 45 minutes for the locals. Sunderland returned with greater purpose to put the visitors under pressure on a sustained basis for the first time in the game, although the pace of Charles N'Zogbia and Rodallega on the break was ever-present. Bent thought he was in when he ran on to Jones' 55th-minute pass and rounded Kirkland, but the flag had gone up long before, and rightly so.

Tension

The game might have been over three minutes later when Emmerson Boyce's misplaced pass was allowed to reach McCarthy, who surged into the box, but could not beat Gordon. Play was switching rapidly from end to end and after Michael Turner had headed wastefully across goal at one end on the hour, N'Zogbia sliced wide at the other seconds later. But Jones did not falter when presented with a 64th-minute opening, powering home a header from Henderson's right-wing cross to lift the tension inside the stadium. Henderson was soon to depart on a stretcher with what looked like a nasty ankle injury. However, it was the Black Cats who were firmly in the ascendancy as the clock ran down and Bent might have snatched all three points as the game entered seven minutes of stoppage time, only for his goal-bound shot to be blocked by prone team-mate Jones.

Sunderland	Team Statistics	Wigan Athletic
1	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	1
4	Shots on Target	3
4	Shots off Target	9
6	Blocked Shots	4
2	Corners	3
11	Fouls	17
4	Offsides	2
4	Yellow Cards	5
0	Red Cards	0
66.2	Passing Success	62.7
24	Tackles	20
70.8	Tackles Success	80
52	Possession	48
57.6	Territorial Advantage	42.4