With Chelsea playing Liverpool on Sunday, United had the chance to move three points clear at the top of the league, however, Steve Bruce’s side were excellent and were unlucky to leave Manchester with only a point.
Sunderland lead at half-time through Darren Bent’s early goal and Kenwyne Jones restored their lead in the second-half after Dimitar Berbatov’s sublime overhead kick had pulled United level.
However with Sunderland reduced to 10-men after Kieran Richardson’s sending off, the champions piled on the pressure and scored in stoppage time through Patrice Evra’s shot which deflected in off Ferdinand.
Sir Alex Ferguson made seven changes from the side that beat Wolfsburg in the Champions League and his team looked disjointed with Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher guilty of misplacing a number of passes in the first half.
Steve Bruce named former United players Phillip Bardsley and Kieran Richardson at full-back with Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones up front as he attempted to beat his old manager for the first time.
And Sunderland made the perfect start when Bent drilled a shot past Ben Foster from the edge of the box after seven minutes. Lee Cattermole fed the ball to Bent 22-yards out and the striker finished confidently to score his seventh goal of the season.
Ferguson’s team failed to find any rhythm in the opening stages and looked vulnerable whenever their attacks broke down.
Sunderland were breaking at pace and Patrice Evra had to make a vital interception to deny Lorik Cana connecting with Andy Reid’s cross.
Sunderland could have extended their lead when Andy Reid swept in a cross for Bent at the back post. The goal scorer elected to head the ball back across goal though and Nemanja Vidic was able to head the ball back to Foster.
After a disappointing first-half Scholes was replaced by Anderson at half-time but it was Ferdinand who almost handed United an equaliser with a weak header back to Craig Gordon. The Scottish keeper blocked Nani’s initial shot and when the ball fell to Wayne Rooney, Ferdinand atoned for his error by blocking the England striker’s effort.
Sunderland could have doubled their lead when Jones almost found Steed Marlbranque with a low ball across the area, however, it was the home side that scored the second goal of the game and drew level.
Gordon saved from Rooney, but Sunderland’s clearance fell to John O’Shea on the right who crossed for Berbatov to score with a spectacular overhead kick.
United were level for less than 10 minutes though with Foster failing to command his penalty area and allowing Jones to head Bruce’s team back into the lead from Reid’s cross.
Rooney came close to equalising after exchanging passes with Berbatov on the edge of the box but his shot flashed inches wide of Gordon’s right hand post.
United struggled to apply any concerted amount of pressure on Sunderland as the final whistle approached though with Ferdinand and Michael Turner blocking shots from Rooney.
They were handed an advantage with five minutes remaining when Richardson received his second yellow card for kicking the ball away and took full advantage when Evra equalised in added time.
Sunderland’s defence failed to clear the ball which fell to the French full-back whose wayward shot deflected in off Ferdinand to deny Bruce’s team the victory they arguably deserved.
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