Portsmouth 1-1 Sunderland

Dindane (90+5) Bent (pen 12)

The last minute glory will do little but temporarily cloud the financial hell that Portsmouth find themselves in, but that was the last thing on Aruna Dindane's mind as he rose at the back post to nod past a hapless Craig Gordon to give Portsmouth a share of the spoils at a bitterly cold Fratton Park, to increase Sunderland's winless run to 12 Premier League games.

It was a bad tempered game, with full hearted challenges and, in the case of Lee Cattermole, badly timed lunges. In fact 3 red cards could have been more, had Tal Ben-Haim been pulled up for repeated cynical fouling but Kevin Friend chose to overlook it.

The game started in an understandably nervy fashion with neither side able to keep mistakes out of their game. However it was the Black Cats who settled the quickest, with the recalled Steed Malbranque and Tottenham loanee Alan Hutton linking up well to catch out the veteran left back Ricardo Rocha and get in behind, but for a better ball Sunderland could have taken a second minute lead.

But the goal did come. A delicious Kenwyne Jones flick sent England international Darren Bent away only to be clipped from behind by Rocha, which promted Friend to point to the spot and pull out the red card. However it was directed at a confused Yebda who protested his innocence before heading off the pitch, only to be called back by Friend after a quick chat with his assistant referee, which consequently saw Rocha leave the game. Bent dispatched the penalty, with some help from the post, to send around 1000 noisy mackems into jubilation.

It looked as if Sunderland were on their way to a first Premiership win in 11 and a first top flight win at Fratton Park since 1958 but Aruna Dindane, a constant menace to the cumbersome Turner and Kilgallon, confused 3 sunderland defenders with one turn, prompting Gordon to make a great reaction save with his legs in the Sunderland goal. After this point the game turned scrappy with neither side able to keep the ball long enough to pose any serious threat to each other.

After the half time interval it was Grant's team talk that had the positive effect as Portsmouth came at Sunderland with a period of sustained pressure which caused the tenacious Lee Cattermole to pick up his second booking with a horrible lunge on Basinas. However it was the wearsiders who responded better to the dismissal with James making a great save to deny South Africa bound Bent a 16th Premiership goal of the season. From the subsequent corner Matt Kilgallon was denied his first Sunderland goal when his well struck volley agonizingly struck the inside of the post and bounced back out. Kenwyne Jones is 6 foot 4 but even he couldn't reach Darren Bent's low driven cross as it bobbled past his outstretched leg.

With time running down, Andy Reid who had been orchestrating the second half, was replaced by 19 year old David Meyler who became the third player to see Kevin Friend's red card after a nieve challenge with Steve Finnan, in which he caught the former Republic of Ireland player with his elbow. This was a turning point in the game and Sunderland began to bring every player behind the ball whilst Pompey launched long ball after long ball into the Sunderland penalty area which resulted in a series of corners which Turner and Jones defended heroically.

But they could do nothing about the Portsmouth equaliser, as Jamie O'Hara whipped in a deliciously teasing cross to the back post, which demanded to be headed into the back of the net. Dindane obliged and the Fratton Park faithful raised the roof, as Steve Bruce was left wondering what does he have to do to win a game?

Man of the match: Kenwyne Jones

Ratings

Portsmouth: James 7, Finnan 6, Wilson 8, Ben-Haim 6, Rocha 3, Bouba Diop 7, O'Hara 7, Basinas 6, Yebda 5, Piquionne 6, Dindane 8.

Sunderland: Gordon 7, Hutton 6, Turner 5, Kilgallon 5, McCartney 7, Malbranque 6, Cana 6, Cattermole 5, Reid 7, Bent 6, Jones 8.

Cards: Portsmouth: yellow: 3(Dindane, Ben-Haim,Finnan) red: 1 (Rocha)

Sunderland: yellow: 2 (Cattermole x2) red: 2 (Cattermole, Meyler)