Patrick Roberts celebrates his late equaliser for Sunderland against Bristol City
Patrick Roberts preserved Sunderland's unbeaten home record with an equaliser deep in added time to thwart a determined Bristol City.
The Robins led through centre-back Luke McNally's goal, the big Irishman capping a terrific display by capitalising on some farcical defending by the Black Cats.
The visitors had responded well to their dismal defeat at Portsmouth on Saturday and blunted a Sunderland side that laboured to break them down until Roberts and fellow substitute Adil Aouchiche opened them up late on.
The draw means that Regis Le Bris' team have now won just once in eight games, as their excellent start to the season continues to flag.
Sunderland struggled to find any fluency and ran into a team that looked a mile apart from that which capitulated so easily at Fratton Park three days earlier.
The Black Cats were not helped by the fact that man of the moment Tom Watson, whose first senior goals sank Stoke City 2-1 at the weekend, limped off early in the game.
He was injured trying to drive home a loose ball in the area, only to find the solid figure of McNally firmly in his way, and the defender recovered to get his foot to Dan Neil's follow-up shot.
That double block was typical of the Robins as they dug deep and were well-organised in the first half, with Wilson Isidor's header the only effort to test goalkeeper Max O'Leary.
The visitors survived loud penalty appeals as Yu Hirakawa clumsily bundled into Aji Alese in the area, with referee Dean Whitestone strangely awarding a free-kick the other way.
Manning's half-time switch, sending on Sam Bell and George Earthy, paid off as City presented a threat in the second half and when they tested the home defence in the 62nd minute they were found wanting.
Earthy found space on the right and his cross left the Sunderland defence in a tangle, the ball running free to McNally who gleefully smashed home his second of the season.
Jason Knight heroically blocked a Chris Rigg effort and Aouchiche shot straight at O'Leary, but the Black Cats lacked penetration, while Anis Mehmeti wasted a good chance to seal the win at the other end.
Roberts, who had replaced Watson from the bench, finally opened up the visitors, feeding Aouchiche on the left and then collecting the return pass to rifle the ball high into the net.
'They gave absolutely everything' - reaction
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris told BBC Radio Newcastle:
"We dominated the game, starting well with a good tempo and playing the way we wanted to play, with many switches and playing into the triangles.
"We had a lack of bodies in the box to receive the crosses and to deal with the counter-pressing to recover the ball quickly and create the second chance.
"The first half was positive and the second half was different as they changed their shape and defended in a different way.
"We struggled a little bit for 15 or 20 minutes and they obtained some situations and finally, on a set-play, found a solution.
"We had the character to score at the end but we can be frustrated because against a low block we struggled to find a solution."
Bristol City head coach Liam Manning told BBC Radio Bristol:
"I feel for the lads tonight. They left everything out there and that was what I was looking for in terms of a response to the weekend.
"You see Rob Dickie heading things clear on his knees in the box, and people throwing their bodies on the line.
"They gave absolutely everything and for 93 minutes it was everything we would want in a solid away performance at a difficult place to come.
"I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get three points but coming here and getting one isn't the worst thing.
"We allowed them to progress a little bit too much in the first half so we changed the system at half-time and that helped us - we were able to engage a bit higher and put a bit more pressure on."
Liam Manning speaks to Ross Heaton after Bristol City's 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
