Manchester United 2 Sunderland 2

Oct 4 2009 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

FOOTBALL can be a cruel game – just ask Anton Ferdinand!

Recalled to the Sunderland side for the trip to Old Trafford, he produced arguably his best performance in a Red and White shirt, only to put through his own net in injury-time and deny the Black Cats their first League win over Man U for more than four decades.

And it was also an unhappy day for ex-Man U man Kieran Richardson, who was sent off in the closing stages – with Sunderland still in front – after picking up a needless second booking for kicking the ball away at a free-kick.

But there were still plenty of positives for Sunderland boss Steve Bruce, who saw his side come within 90 seconds of a famous victory.

Record £10m signing Darren Bent’s seventh goal of the season put the Black Cats in front inside the first 10 minutes and – with England coach Fabio Capello due to name his squad tonight for the World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus – will have done his chances of an international recall no harm whatsoever.

And Lee Cattermole may also have caught Capello’s eye, with a tigerish performance in central midfield.

Manchester United dominated possession but looked off-the-pace for much of the match, failing to notch a single shot on target in the entire first half as Sunderland hassled and harried at every opportunity.

Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov was totally anonymous in the first period but showed one flash of skill to haul his side level just after the break, and at that stage a Man U fightback was on the cards.

But parity only lasted seven minutes before Kenwyne Jones notched his fifth goal of the campaign to restore Sunderland’s advantage and set up an unlikely win for Bruce’s men.

Man U poured forward in search of an equaliser in the closing stages and Sunderland thought they had done enough until Ferdinand’s unfortunate mishap in the third of four minutes’ additional time.

Ferdinand’s return to the side was one of two changes Bruce made to the team that beat Wolves 5-2 last weekend, with Phil Bardsley the other man to come in.

Ferdinand replaced thigh injury victim John Mensah, while ex-Red Devil Bardsley recovered from the virus that kept him out of the Wolves game and was preferred to Paulo Da Silva at right-back.

In midfield, Cattermole – who was rushed back from a heel problem for the Wolves game and went off at half-time – was passed fit to play.