Stoke City 1-1 Sunderland: Jermain Defoe's 94th-minute penalty keeps survival hopes alive - 5 things we learned

A dramatic finish gives the Black Cats a HUGE point in the battle to beat the drop - here's how it happened

Jermain Defoe scored a stoppage-time equaliser from the penalty spot to earn Sunderland another point in their survival struggle .

Sunderland looked on course for a deserved defeat before referee Craig Pawson ruled that Geoff Cameron had fouled Defoe just inside the box.

Defoe converted the penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time to send the away fans wild and the draw maintains their run of just one defeat in eight games, although they have slipped into the bottom three.

Stoke, who recalled Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam, were were much improved on the side, which conceded four goals in each of their last three games, and should have won comfortably.

Adam and Crouch impressed and they combined to set up Markoo Arnautovic for the opener on 50 minutes.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce watches on the touchline

1) Peter Crouch can still hack it

Crouch was a real threat on only his third Premier League start for Stoke.

He deserves better than warming the bench and could do a job for someone in the top flight if Mark Hughes won't give him more of a chance.

Marko Arnautovic scores the first goal for Stoke

Stoke City's Marko Arnautovic celebrates scoring his side's first goal

Stoke City's Marko Arnautovic celebrates scoring his side's first goal

2) Sunderland need to match their fans' passion

Sunderland filled the away end, including two blokes naked from the waist up, and cheered their side.

But Sam Allardyce's side were disappointing before Jermain Defoe got them out of jail.

3) Mark Hughes is not too proud to take a leaf out of Tony Pulis' playbook

Although Stoke stuck to their passing game, they went direct with Peter Crouch as a targetman and his knockdown set up Marko Arnautovic's goal.

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Giannelli Imbula of Stoke City holds off Lee Cattermole of Sunderland

4) Jermain Defoe needs better service - but can keep the Black Cats up

Jermain Defoe can keep Sunderland up.

Defoe's late penalty was his 14th Premier League goal in 31 games and he is scoring the goals to fire their survival bid.

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Jan Kirchhoff of Sunderland and Charlie Adam of Stoke City

5) This will be Big Sam's greatest escape

Sam Allardyce enjoyed some highs, keeping Bolton and Blackburn up, but beating the drop with Sunderland would top the lot because of their predicament when he took over.

Player ratings - by David Anderson

Stoke

• Haugaard 6 - Relatively untroubled after shipping eight in his three previous games.
• Bardsley 7 - Tigerish on the right and also created a good chance for Crouch.
• Shawcross 6 - Snuffed out Defoe's threat and looked more like his old self.
• Cameron 6 - Did well in unfamiliar centre-half role before giving away the penalty.
• Pieters 6 - Was solid on his return from injury and got away with a cynical block on Watmore.
• Whelan 6 - Went close to scoring with a header and a long-range shot.
• Imbula 7 - Booked. Showed great energy and created a wonderful chance for Arnautovic.
• Shaqiri 6 - Crocked early on by Cattermole and was subdued on his return from injury.
• Adam 8 - Booked. Great set-piece delivery on his recall and had a hand in Arnautovic's goal.
• Arnautovic 7 - Made amends for wasting a great chance by scoring before going off injured.
• Crouch 8 - MOTM. Was dangerous on his third Premier League start and assisted Arnautovic's goal.
• Subs: Walters (Arnautovic 56mins) 6, Diouf (Shaqiri 77mins) 6, Bojan (Adam 86mins).
• Subs not used: Bachmann, Muniesa, Joselu, Wollscheid.

Sunderland

• Mannone 7 - Good fingertip save to claw away a header from Crouch.
• Yedlin 5 - Had a tough afternoon up against the trickery of Arnautovic.
• Kone 6 - Battled hard against Crouch, but slipped to let Arnautovic in to score.
• Kaboul 6 - Helped prevent Stoke winning by more and defended well.
• Van Aanholt 6 - Got forward and had a shot comfortably saved by Haugaard.
• Kirchhoff 5 - Did not stem the tide of Stoke's attacks in his holding role.
• Borini 5 - Struggled to make any impact on the right side of Sunderland's midfield.
• Cattermole 6 - Lucky to escape punishment for catching Shaqiri late.
• M'Vila 6 - Was quiet before slipping the ball through to Defoe to win the penalty.
• Khazri 6 - Showed some glimpses of his ability, but not enough to influence the game.
• Defoe 7 - Got his reward for never giving up by winning and converting the penalty.
• Subs: Booked N'Doye (Borini 59mins) 5, Watmore (Khazri 59mins) 6, Booked Larsson (Kirchhoff 77mins) 5.
• Subs not used: Pickford, Jones, Rodwell, O'Shea.
• Referee: Craig Pawson Att: 27,667