John O'Shea scored a second-half equaliser as 10-man Sunderland rescued a 1-all draw at home to Stoke City that moved them three points clear of the English Premier League relegation zone.
Jonathan Walters gave the visitors an early lead, while Sunderland had a player sent off for the second week running when Craig Gardner was shown a straight red card for a lunging, studs-first tackle with only 33 minutes on the clock.
Stoke looked to be cruising to victory in a one-paced and slightly subdued encounter before defender O'Shea equalised after 63 minutes.
Sunderland are now 15th, level on 38 points with north-east rivals Newcastle United and Norwich City and three clear of Wigan Athletic who are in the relegation zone but have a game in hand.
Stoke stayed 11th on 41 points.
