Draw as good as a win for Bruce

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce was a relieved man after his side snatched a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Sunday.

Newcastle seemed destined for victory after Kevin Nolan’s 52nd-minute goal but Sunderland replied at the death, with Asamoah Gyan chesting Magpies’ goalkeeper Steve Harper’s parry over the line to send the Stadium of Light crowd into raptures.

“When you’re behind in a derby game and score 30 seconds from the end then of course you are pleased,” Bruce said of the Tyne-Wear clash.

“The late goal was great for the fans, but for me it keeps us five points above them (Newcastle) and ticking along with the big part of the season still to come.”

“You need a bit of luck in a derby game, it was our turn in the last minute. It was a great strike from Phil and it’s hit Asamoah on the chest – that was probably his best touch of the afternoon!”

The result was a lucky escape for the hosts, Bruce admitted afterwards.

“To rescue it was very pleasing as we didn’t play at all well in the second half. Newcastle started brightly but for the half an hour leading up to half-time I thought we were in the ascendancy,” he said.

“Second half we just didn’t play and got caught up in the whole occasion again. We didn’t take the ball down and play as we normally do.”

“We can’t resort to just hitting it forward as quickly as we possibly can because we’re not that sort of team. However, we’ll take the draw, we’ll take a point.”

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was downcast after his side conceded so late.

“We’re disappointed because it feels like a defeat,” Pardew said.

“We’ve played so well today. We dominated the game and if we’d just stayed calm in that last period we would have seen it through. We just made a few tiny errors and they got a break and nicked a goal which, on reflection, I don’t think they deserved.”

“Sunderland are very strong at home, but we’ve taken four points off them so, for our fans, that’s good, and it could have been six but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”

Newcastle achieved the result without key striker Andy Carroll and the suspended Cheik Tiote, with the former attracting significant attention from Tottenham in the January transfer window.

Spurs are reported to have been considering putting a 30-million-pound offer on the table for Carroll, which will not bother Pardew if they do so.

“They can put together whatever they like. He is not for sale. I am going to say it one last time, he is not for sale,” he said.