Sunderland 1 Liverpool 1
thesun
LUIS SUAREZS late leveller spared Liverpools blushes on a frustrating afternoon at the Stadium of Light.
He was also booked for a blatant dive as the draw failed to save his side from their worst start to a league campaign in 101 YEARS.
Just three months into his reign, Kop boss Brendan Rodgers is coming under increasing pressure.
And things looked to be getting even worse when Steven Fletchers third goal in two league starts for Sunderland put the hosts on top before the break.
Suarez at least eased the pressure on the Northern Irishman with a clinical 71st-minute strike.
The Uruguay striker pounced on a loose ball to fire beyond Simon Mignolet from a couple of yards, after Raheem Sterlings low cross bounced back invitingly off centre-back Titus Bramble.
But Rodgers will still be hoping for plenty more time to turn things around in what is looking like a mammoth task.
Whether he gets it or not, of course, is down to the Liverpool hierarchy.
Despite laying siege to the Sunderland goal late on, his Reds failed to earn a deserved victory to clock up four winless games from the start of the season for the first time since 1911.
After this weeks shocking findings of the Hillsborough report cleared their fans of any blame for the 1989 disaster, Liverpool had 96 reasons to chalk up their first three-point haul of the campaign.
But despite winning arguably their greatest-ever off-the-pitch battle, on it they remain very much a work in progress.
Rodgers squad wore training tops with the No 96 on the back in honour of the Hillsborough victims as Sunderland lowered flags to half mast as a mark of respect.
Black Cats boss Martin ONeill handed a debut to Spurs on-loan defender Danny Rose at left-back but the hosts were without star winger Adam Johnson.
The £10million signing from Manchester City missed out on a home Premier League debut with a thigh problem picked up on England duty.
Liverpool striker Fabio Borini, meanwhile, could have had the Reds cruising inside the first 25 minutes.
But the Italy international was twice denied by the excellent Mignolet.
First, in the 19th minute, Mignolet was forced to block well at the feet of Borini after he pounced on a weak back-header from Carlos Cuellar.
The busy Belgian keeper then did even better with a great reaction save low to his left from the former Roma stars first-time effort, after Jonjo Shelveys shot was charged down in the box.
And Liverpool paid for failing to take their chances when Fletcher gave Sunderland a shock 29th-minute lead with their only shot on target of the game.
Craig Gardner takes all the credit for creating the deadlock-breaking goal with a surging run down the right, which saw him go past Suarez and leave Glen Johnson for dead before delivering a perfect ball along the six-yard box.
Fletcher needed no invitation and the striker easily outmuscled Martin Skrtel to slide the close-range opener past Pepe Reina.
It was the perfect start to the Scots home Premier League debut for the Wearsiders, who have gone 11 games without a league win.
To add insult to injury, Suarez who had a first half to forget earned a yellow card for a blatant penalty area dive in a tussle with Irish defender John OShea.
Johnson came close to making amends for being caught out for Fletchers opener as Liverpool started the second half brightly after Rodgers half-time teamtalk.
The England defender, playing out of position at left-back, cut in on to his right foot and fired a curling 25-yard thunderbolt that left Mignolet grasping thin air.
But his stunning effort crashed back off the bar and to safety in a major let-off for the Black Cats.
And when Steven Gerrard side-footed wide from inside the box with the goal at his mercy after good work from Shelvey and Sterling, Liverpool began to sense it was not their day.
Mignolet saved well from Skrtels snap header when the defender met Gerrards long ball into the area, as Liverpool threw bodies forward in search of a late leveller.
Suarez ensured justice was done with his predatory late strike.
But Mignolet capped a stand-out display with a fine block to deny Shelvey as the hosts hung on to earn Rodgers men an unwanted place in the clubs history books.
Sunderland: Mignolet, Gardner, Cuellar (Bramble 46), OShea, Rose (Campbell 72), Larsson, Colback, Cattermole, McClean, Sessegnon, Fletcher (Saha 86). Subs not used: Westwood, Kilgallon, Ji, Meyler. Booked: Larsson.
Goals: Fletcher 29.
Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Shelvey, Borini (Downing 64), Suarez, Sterling. Subs not used: Jones, Jose Enrique, Sahin, Assaidi, Henderson, Carragher. Booked: Suarez, Skrtel.
Goals: Suarez 71.
Att: 41,997
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
He was also booked for a blatant dive as the draw failed to save his side from their worst start to a league campaign in 101 YEARS.
Just three months into his reign, Kop boss Brendan Rodgers is coming under increasing pressure.
And things looked to be getting even worse when Steven Fletchers third goal in two league starts for Sunderland put the hosts on top before the break.
Suarez at least eased the pressure on the Northern Irishman with a clinical 71st-minute strike.
The Uruguay striker pounced on a loose ball to fire beyond Simon Mignolet from a couple of yards, after Raheem Sterlings low cross bounced back invitingly off centre-back Titus Bramble.
But Rodgers will still be hoping for plenty more time to turn things around in what is looking like a mammoth task.
Whether he gets it or not, of course, is down to the Liverpool hierarchy.
Despite laying siege to the Sunderland goal late on, his Reds failed to earn a deserved victory to clock up four winless games from the start of the season for the first time since 1911.
After this weeks shocking findings of the Hillsborough report cleared their fans of any blame for the 1989 disaster, Liverpool had 96 reasons to chalk up their first three-point haul of the campaign.
But despite winning arguably their greatest-ever off-the-pitch battle, on it they remain very much a work in progress.
Rodgers squad wore training tops with the No 96 on the back in honour of the Hillsborough victims as Sunderland lowered flags to half mast as a mark of respect.
Black Cats boss Martin ONeill handed a debut to Spurs on-loan defender Danny Rose at left-back but the hosts were without star winger Adam Johnson.
The £10million signing from Manchester City missed out on a home Premier League debut with a thigh problem picked up on England duty.
Liverpool striker Fabio Borini, meanwhile, could have had the Reds cruising inside the first 25 minutes.
But the Italy international was twice denied by the excellent Mignolet.
First, in the 19th minute, Mignolet was forced to block well at the feet of Borini after he pounced on a weak back-header from Carlos Cuellar.
The busy Belgian keeper then did even better with a great reaction save low to his left from the former Roma stars first-time effort, after Jonjo Shelveys shot was charged down in the box.
And Liverpool paid for failing to take their chances when Fletcher gave Sunderland a shock 29th-minute lead with their only shot on target of the game.
Craig Gardner takes all the credit for creating the deadlock-breaking goal with a surging run down the right, which saw him go past Suarez and leave Glen Johnson for dead before delivering a perfect ball along the six-yard box.
Fletcher needed no invitation and the striker easily outmuscled Martin Skrtel to slide the close-range opener past Pepe Reina.
It was the perfect start to the Scots home Premier League debut for the Wearsiders, who have gone 11 games without a league win.
To add insult to injury, Suarez who had a first half to forget earned a yellow card for a blatant penalty area dive in a tussle with Irish defender John OShea.
Johnson came close to making amends for being caught out for Fletchers opener as Liverpool started the second half brightly after Rodgers half-time teamtalk.
The England defender, playing out of position at left-back, cut in on to his right foot and fired a curling 25-yard thunderbolt that left Mignolet grasping thin air.
But his stunning effort crashed back off the bar and to safety in a major let-off for the Black Cats.
And when Steven Gerrard side-footed wide from inside the box with the goal at his mercy after good work from Shelvey and Sterling, Liverpool began to sense it was not their day.
Mignolet saved well from Skrtels snap header when the defender met Gerrards long ball into the area, as Liverpool threw bodies forward in search of a late leveller.
Suarez ensured justice was done with his predatory late strike.
But Mignolet capped a stand-out display with a fine block to deny Shelvey as the hosts hung on to earn Rodgers men an unwanted place in the clubs history books.
Sunderland: Mignolet, Gardner, Cuellar (Bramble 46), OShea, Rose (Campbell 72), Larsson, Colback, Cattermole, McClean, Sessegnon, Fletcher (Saha 86). Subs not used: Westwood, Kilgallon, Ji, Meyler. Booked: Larsson.
Goals: Fletcher 29.
Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Shelvey, Borini (Downing 64), Suarez, Sterling. Subs not used: Jones, Jose Enrique, Sahin, Assaidi, Henderson, Carragher. Booked: Suarez, Skrtel.
Goals: Suarez 71.
Att: 41,997
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
