Sunderland have been held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Norwich City at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.
© PA Photos
Wes Hoolahan put the visitors ahead after 25 minutes, guiding in a Kei Kamara header from close range.
However, Danny Graham found himself one-on-one with Mark Bunn following an immediate counter attack by the hosts.
The Canaries keeper came out of the box to clear the ball, but referee Chris Foy ruled that he had used his arms to control the ball and showed Bunn a red card.
© PA Photos
Chris Hughton took his goalscorer off in order to bring on third-choice goalkeeper Lee Camp for his first appearance as a Norwich player.
It got worse for the visitors when the assistant referee flagged for a penalty after Sebastien Bassong was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box, allowing Craig Gardner to blast the spot kick in and level the scores.
© PA Photos
The Black Cats almost took the lead just before half time, when Camp parried a Sebastian Larsson strike into the path of Graham, but the former Swansea City striker scuffed his effort wide.
After a strong start to the second half from the hosts, Gardner almost added his second of the game just before the hour mark, but Camp managed to punch the ball away.
Norwich believed that they had won a penalty when Danny Rose appeared to handle the ball inside the penalty area, but Foy and his assistants ruled that the incident occurred outside the box, giving the visitors a free kick.
The visitors dug deep to restrict Sunderland's chances in front of goal towards the end of the match, but they could not find enough to restore their earlier lead.
The result moves Norwich up to 12th in the Premier League table, while Sunderland climb to 15th.
Sian Cowper
