North-east derby stalemate

Phillips falls under challenge from Newcastle's Solano

Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle United

Sunderland's hopes of earning a place in the Uefa Cup suffered a setback as Newcastle United fought back to earn a draw in the north-east derby at The Stadium of Light.

Peter Reid's side had hoped to breath fresh life into their European hopes at the expense of injury-hit neighbours Newcastle.

And they looked on course to bounce back from the damaging home defeat against Spurs when French defender Patrice Carteron gave them a 67th minute lead.

But Newcastle staged a spirited recovery and Andy O'Brien - signed from Bradford City last month - scored his first goal for the club to earn the Toon Army a hard-fought point.

I couldn't have asked any more from my players, but the longer you go without scoring, the more you think it's not your day

  Sunderland manager Peter Reid

Newcastle's hero was goalkeeper Shay Given, who produced an outstanding individual display to keep Sunderland at bay.

Sunderland have not lost a Tyne-Wear clash for three years - and Newcastle rode their luck in a stormy opening half.

Gary Speed had a chance for Newcastle in the first few seconds, shooting over the top, but Sunderland soon pushed Robson's side back on the defensive.

Given - who had a loan spell at Sunderland before joining Newcastle United - was in magnificent form against his former club.

He produced a diving save after 21 minutes, diving spectacularly to his right to turn away Niall Quinn's header as he stole in on Julio Arca's pinpoint cross.

Robson happy with draw

The tackles were flying in thick and fast, with few moments of real creativity from either side.

And in a series of heated exchanges, Stefan Schwarz was booked for a late challenge on Cristian Bassedas.

Speed and Kevin Phillips were also shown the yellow card by over-worked referee Mike Riley after a midfield flare-up.

Newcastle's Clarence Acuna was another who found his way into the referee's notebook in a match of unrelenting pace but little finesse.

Sunderland thought they had broken the deadlock after 36 minutes when Arca delivered another dangerous cross, but Emerson Thome's header bounced back to safety off the post.

I thought our man of the match was our goalkeeper was Shay Given, because he was truly outstanding in everything he did

  Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson

Referee Riley was in action again in the opening minute of the second half, booking Don Hutchison for a theatrical dive as he tried in vain to earn a penalty from Nikos Dabizas' challenge.

Given was almost as busy as the referee, and he was in acrobatic action again on the hour to turn over a close range drive from Phillips.

Sunderland's pressure deserved a reward, and Newcastle's resistance was finally broken after 67 minutes with a glorious goal from a sweeping counter-attack.

Hutchison broke clear on the edge of his own penalty area, and he was joined by defender Carteron, who raced fully 70 yards to get on the end of the Scotland midfield man's slide-rule pass to finally beat Given.

Reid - Euro blow

Newcastle were shocked into action, and Sunderland keeper Thomas Sorensen made a fine save of his own from Carl Cort's header.

But Sunderland almost delivered another stunning counter punch after 71 minutes when Nolberto Solano carelessly lost possession.

Hutchison led the charge to find Phillips, who took the ball around Given to a wide angle and turned back before curling a fine effort narrowly wide.

Newcastle boss Robson made a triple substitution after 75 minutes - with instant success.

He sent on Shola Ameobi, Daniel Cordone and Andy Griffin for Acuna, Solano and Kevin Gallacher.

And Newcastle were on terms within seconds, O'Brien scoring from inside the six-yard box with Cort the provider.

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Sunderland: Sorensen, Carteron, Gray, Craddock, Thome, Hutchison, McCann, Schwarz, Arca, Quinn, Phillips. Subs: Macho, Thirlwell, Williams, Kilbane, Varga.

Newcastle: Given, Barton, Quinn, Dabizas, O'Brien, Solano, Speed, Acuna, Bassedas, Cort, Gallacher. Subs: Griffin, Harper, Cordone, Hughes, Ameobi.

Referee: M Riley (Leeds)