West Brom 2-2 Sunderland: Poyet hails backbone as Seb leads fightback

Sebastian Larsson rescued a point for Sunderland as the Swede’s late goal ensured their new campaign didn’t get off to a false start.

The Black Cats still haven’t won an opening day-fixture since 2009, but they will be happy they returned north with something for their efforts.

They went ahead quickly, were pegged back and were heading for defeat, but manager Gus Poyet was delighted with the response.

“Last year, maybe after conceding the second goal, we would have collapsed,” he said.

“We are now stronger mentally, and the reaction to equalising and wanting to go again was a good sign for the season. Sebastian was a key player for us last year and he’s looked very good in pre-season.

“It took 36 games for him to score one last year and now it’s 85 minutes. That’s great because we need those goals from midfield.”

This fixture had played a pivotal part in the Black Cats’ fortunes last season. A 3-0 defeat at the Hawthorns in September was the last game in Paolo Di Canio’s ill-fated reign, while the 2-0 home win in May guaranteed survival.

Another season of Premier League football looked beyond their reach for most of the campaign, and it was only their dramatic run of 13 points from five games in April and May that saved them.

Poyet’s aim for the new season is to avoid such a struggle again, so an away point was a decent way to begin.

However, Larsson’s goal was a bitter pill to swallow for West Brom’s new head coach Alan Irvine.

The Scot wasn’t the name most fans expected to replace Pepe Mel, and his side missed the chance to earn a morale boosting victory.

What Irvine wouldn’t have imagined was falling behind inside the first five minutes, and he certainly wouldn’t have guessed the scorer. Lee Cattermole had netted once before in his

five seasons on Wearside, but when a free-kick was cleared to him 25 yards out, he took aim and found the top corner.

The early goal gave the visitors the ideal platform, with Poyet having gone for his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation, which enables the Black Cats to sit in.

Despite naming both Steven Fletcher and Connor Wickham, the younger man was shunted onto the left, emphasising why they are keen to bring back Fabio Borini from Liverpool to play there.

But as the half wore on they were slowly pushed back, and Vito Mannone made a good save to deny Craig Gardner.

However, a soft penalty enabled Albion to draw level. Valentin Roberge was adjudged to have pulled back Victor Anichebe, and Saido Berahino sent Mannone the wrong way.

Sunderland were more purposeful after the break and pushed more players forward, and Fletcher thought he had put them back in front when he headed in, but he was correctly flagged for offside.

But it counted for little when they fell behind. Mannone saved Graham Dorrans’ shot, but Craig Gardner was on to it quickly and stood up an excellent cross for Berahino to score at the back post.

The sight of debutant Patrick Van Aanholt with his head in his hands revealed where the blame was as he failed to go with Berahino’s run.

But the young Dutchman made amends with his part in the equaliser as he got to the byline and showed real awareness to find Larsson, who finished with aplomb from eight yards.