Sunderland 2-2 West Brom: Bendtner scores first goal as Bruce's men recover from disastrous first five minutes

Sunderland came from two goals behind to draw 2-2 at the Stadium of Light against West Brom, with Nicklas Bendtner and Ahmed Elmohamady bringing the hosts level after Shane Long and James Morrison were on target early for the visitors.

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The Baggies got off to the best possible start as they opened the scoring in the fourth minute through Morrison, who peeled off his marker and headed Chris Brunt’s free-kick into the net past Simon Mignolet in the Sunderland goal.

Roy Hodgson’s side made in two a minute later, when a hopeful ball was played over the Black Cats defence which Long raced onto, beating Michael Turner before the Irishman slid his shot under Mignolet as boos echoed around the Stadium of Light.

The Sunderland defence was all over the place and were caught out very easily by the lofted pass, with Michael Turner in particular giving a poor showing in his first game for Steve Bruce’s side since April.

Long and Peter Odemwingie were taking full advantage of this and could have made it three or four if not for a last ditch challenge by Wes Brown and a decent stop by Mignolet.

The West Brom strikers were made to pay for these missed opportunities as the Black Cats got a goal back through Bendtner after a great move down the right, with Seb Larsson finding the Dane with a back-heel and the on-loan striker's deflected shot flew over Ben Foster into the net.

This gave Sunderland and the crowd a boost and they got their equaliser in the 26^th minute through Elmohamady, as the winger headed home Larsson’s cross after beating Shorey in the air, much to the relief of Steve Bruce.

Sunderland could have taken the lead through late first-half chances from Stephane Sessegnon, Bendtner and Craig Gardner, but they were unable to beat Foster with the former Manchester United keeper making a great save from Gardner in particular as the Black Cats ended the half strongly.

                      Great Dane | Bendtner opens his account at the Stadium of Light

The hosts came out in the second half like they ended the first and could have gone ahead through Wes Brown, but the defender headed into the ground and over the bar when unmarked at the back-post from a Larsson free-kick.

Bruce’s side continued to threaten as they played some lovely football and looked unrecognizable from the team that played so woefully in the first five minutes of the game.

Their good play presented a chance for Elmohamady to double his tally for the day, but his effort was well saved by Foster.  

West Brom were reduced to playing on the counter-attack as Sunderland dominated possession, and this tactic nearly paid off as Long went close to scoring against the run of play after getting the better of Turner.

Sessegnon kept pulling the strings for the Black Cats but they were unable to find that final ball to create a clear cut chance to find the winner they deserved.

The Baggies piled on late pressure in the hope of snatching all three points but Sunderland were able to hold onto a point.