Two of our old boys came back to haunt Sunderland today, but a cracking equaliser from Liam Miller in the 89th minute rescued a point for Roy Keane's side in his first derby as a manager.

Roy Keane was forced into a change after Nyron Nosworthy failed a fitness test on a knee injury. That allowed Greg Halford back into the side, as he returned at right back, with Paul McShane partnering Danny Higginbotham at centre-back. Ian Harte made his first appearance for us as he was named on the subs bench.

Sunderland took the lead after just 75 seconds, when Michael Chopra found his shot deflected into the path of Grant Leadbitter, who had no problem dispatching a shot past Mark Schwarzer to hand us a dream start. However, Middlesbrough put the pressure on quickly, and they could have had an early penalty after Danny Collins looked to have handled the ball as he tackled Gary O'Neil.

David Wheater saw a shot from the edge of the area fly just wide of Craig Gordon's post, as Tuncay Sanli needed treatment following heavy challenge from Higginbotham in the seventh minute. Middlesbrough got back into the game before the quarter hour mark, and it was a goal that you would have expected, as Julio Arca finished off the move he had started, heading in O'Neil's cross past Gordon. To his credit, Julio didn't celebrate - but his day quickly went sour, as he had to be stretchered off with a knee injury following an awkward challenge from Dwight Yorke.

Craig Gordon had to be alert to deny Middlesbrough going into the break, keeping out O'Neil and substitute Dong-Gook Lee, while another Boro sub, George Boateng, nearly got himself sent off within three minutes of his arrival. Boateng was booked seconds after coming on, and was lucky to avoid a second yellow on the half hour mark after a foul on Kenwyne Jones. Lee, Mido and Chopra all had shots on goal for their respective sides, as we went into half time at 1-1.

Middlesbrough started the second half well, nearly forcing a corner from Greg Halford's mistake early on, before O'Neil tested Gordon with a weak effort. Paul McShane was left nursing his nagging shoulder injury again after he was challenged by Lee, as Boateng again narrowly voided a red card, this time following a foul on Danny Collins. The referee, Howard Webb, was bottling a lot of decisions, and he did it again on the hour mark when he decided to just book Grant Leadbitter and another new arrival, Lee Cattermole, after the pair got into an altercation just seconds after he arrived.

Shortly after that, Middlesbrough took the lead when Stewart Downing - another former Sunderland man, albeit on loan - smashed a 30 yard shot past a helpless Gordon, sending Sunderland into panic as we played the last 23 minutes frantically trying to get a point. Keane brought on Anthony Stokes and Roy O'Donovan as we ended the game with four strikers on the pitch, but it was a midfielder who got us the point, when Liam Miller blasted a shot into the top corner from 20 yards out in the final moments of the game.

Middlesbrough did try to get a late winner, but in the end Miller's shot from out of nowhere was enough to get a well-earned point for Roy Keane's men.

Sunderland: Gordon, Halford, McShane, Higginbotham, Collins, Leadbitter, Etuhu (sub 53, Miller), Yorke (sub 67, Stokes), Wallace (sub 75, O'Donovan), Jones, Chopra. Subs: Ward, Harte.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young, Woodgate, Wheater, Taylor, O'Neil, Rochemback, Arca (sub 27, Boateng), Downing, Sanli (sub 12, Lee), Mido (sub 58, Cattermole). Subs: Jones, Riggott.