MIDDLESBRO 3
Possession 51% 49% Shots On Target 7 4 Shots Off Target 4 5 Blocked Shots 6 2 Corners 4 2 Fouls Conceded 14 10 Offsides 1 2 Yellow Cards 5 1 Red Cards 1 1 CALLUM McMANAMAN scored six minutes into injury time – and sparked a bust up with Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis.
The Sunderland winger clinched a last-gasp point – and invaded Pulis’s technical area, making an inflammatory gesture.
McManaman was Pulis’s first signing as West Brom boss – but that move turned sour.
The winger cupped his ear towards Pulis, taunting his former boss... and the managerial veteran was restrained from confronting his tormentor in the tunnel.
It was a fitting, spiky, heated end to an amazing game that left Sunderland stranded at the bottom, and Boro denied a place in the play-off zone.
Asked about the confrontation, Pulis said: “He was disappointed when he was at West Brom because I didn’t pick him. He went to Sheffield Wednesday and they didn’t pick him. And now he’s here and they don’t pick him either.
“I understand the boy is frustrated. It is good banter between two people. There was no shoving or pushing.”
The emotional calm amid the storm had come when Grant Leadbitter put Boro 2-1 ahead with a second-half penalty.
The ex-Sunderland lad refused to celebrate. Instead he jogged alone to the halfway line where the ashes of his dad Brian, a Sunderland fan, are buried. He touched the turf in memory and looked to the sky. A huge moment for the player from nearby Fencehouses.
A rare outbreak of calm and class.
Two red cards in the first half set up a 10 vs 10 slug-fest for 63 minutes. Sunderland were one up through Joel Asoro when loanee Jake Clarke- Salter was shown a straight red in the 25th minute.
The Chelsea and England Under-20 player flew late into Adama Traore (below). Ref Tim Robinson deemed it dangerous.
Then Traore saw red for the second time this season for shoving Bryan Oviedo in the face as Boro took a corner.
After the break Patrick Bamford was on top form. With his back to goal he swivelled on the ball, leaving Lamine Kine flat footed, and swept home to level. Moments later Boro were ahead though Leadbitter’s penalty, after Britt Assombalonga was sliced down by keeper Lee Camp.
But this Sunderland side, for all their faults, showed some spirit in adversity and Oviedo’s piercing run and cut-back let Jonny Williams make it 2-2.
Bamford’s brilliance shone through again when Mo Besic slotted a stunning pass, and although the striker fluffed his first touch he snaffled the ball and fired past Camp to make it 3-2 to the visitors. That should have put Boro in the top six for the first time since November – only for McManaman to strike with virtually the last kick.
Manager Chris Coleman said: “I thought Callum was running to me. I got blanked! I wasn’t aware of his history with Tony. I was happy he got the equaliser. We showed some great spirit to drag it back.”