Last-gasp leveller was ‘harsh lesson’ for Sunderland

Tony Mowbray admitted his Sunderland side were dealt a “harsh lesson” as they conceded a 98th-minute equaliser to draw 4-4 with Hull in a dramatic game at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland fought back from 1-0 and then 3-2 down to lead 4-3 in the dying moments and looked set to close the gap on the play-off places to four points.

But substitute Pierre Ekwah fouled Regan Slater in the area and Ozan Tufan made no mistake from the spot to score his second goal of the game with the last kick.

Mowbray said: “We are learning at the coalface, we’re learning as we go along. That’s a harsh lesson, it’s a harsh lesson for Pierre not to tackle. The last kick of the game, don’t make a tackle, stand up and let them beat you.”

Despite the setback, though, Mowbray was upbeat about his side’s display.

He said: “I think there was lots of good stuff. As coaches, there was also a lot wrong.

“We scored some good goals. We reacted really well after a really poor opening 20 minutes. I felt good about the team at the end.

“Conceding the last kick doesn’t leave you feeling good, but it leaves me full of confidence that they can react like they did after the first 20 or 30 minutes when they cut us open pretty easily.

“It’s the Championship. We go to Burnley, the best team in the league, and don’t give them a sniff of building out from the back. And then play against Hull who find the answers.

“I felt it was a slow start from a few of the players. We had words at half-time to liven up and we were much better in the second half when we took the initiative.”

Hull took an early lead through Tufan before Sunderland hit back with a quickfire double from Joe Gelhardt and Amad Diallo.

The visitors then quickly got back on level terms through Allahyar Sayyadmanesh, whose goal was the third in the space of five minutes.

Sunderland started the second half on the front foot, but fell behind when Slater pounced on a Trai Hume mistake.

However, the Black Cats fought back again as Amad scored his second from the spot after a foul on Jack Clarke, who then finished off a fine team move in the 81st minute to make it 4-3.

Sunderland looked set to see it victory before the further drama at the death.

Hull boss Liam Rosenior had mixed emotions after the game.

He said: “For 25 minutes that’s the best performance I’ve seen from my group, then we shoot ourselves in the foot.

“We should go 2-0 up, we have an unbelievable chance and within 30 seconds the ball is in our net. Then we give another cheap goal away. I have to give the players credit because they’re learning something new.

“I keep saying it’s a process. You saw for long spells what I want consistently. This game encapsulated our season, we shoot ourselves in the foot.”