Defoe penalty saves Sunderland

Jermain Defoe scored a penalty in the final minute of stoppage-time as relegation-threatened Sunderland salvaged a dramatic 1-1 draw against Stoke on Saturday.

Desperate for points to boost their survival hopes, the Black Cats struggled to create clear-cut chances and it looked like Marko Arnautovic’s second-half goal would consign them to defeat.

But, with time running out, Defoe won and calmly converted a penalty after a lengthy delay to keep the Sunderland fans dreaming of survival.

Newcastle’s home win over Crystal Palace means Sunderland drop into the bottom three, but they have a game in hand over the Magpies.

Sunderland have been fighting really hard of late and were unchanged for the fifth match in a row while Stoke made five changes, having shipped four goals in each of their three previous games.

And recalled forward Peter Crouch proved the key man in the first half as his aerial prowess caused the Sunderland defence ceaseless problems.

The former England man drew a decent one-handed save from Vito Mannone with one header which may just have crept into the corner of the net and nodded another chance just wide of the post.

But it was top scorer Arnautovic who squandered the best opportunity …

continue reading in source www.skysports.com