Sunderland equalised late on to claim a point on the road after holding Millwall to a 1-1 draw at The Den in the Sky Bet Championship.
In a cagey opening first half which ended goalless, the game sprung to life when Millwall captain Jake Cooper opened the scoring, but substitute Dennis Cirkin headed home late on to claim a share of the points.
Millwall created the first clear-cut chance of the match when former Black Cats’ midfielder George Honeyman found space down the right, but Mason Bennett’s shot rolled wide of Anthony Patterson’s left-hand post.
The hosts thought they had opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, Honeyman poking the ball past Patterson from close range, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The Lions continued to apply the pressure in the closing stages of the half when an unmarked Charlie Cresswell fired over from ten yards out after Sunderland failed to clear their lines.
The home team started the second half brightly, Murray Wallace’s looping header from a George Saville corner clipping the top of Patterson’s crossbar.
Honeyman forced Patterson into a great save as the match approached the hour mark. The midfielder's curling effort from the edge of the box was heading goalbound until Patterson got fingertips to the ball to force a corner.
Sunderland were punished from the resulting corner – Cooper connecting with the loose ball to break the deadlock after an initial scramble inside the danger area.
The visitors came close to an equaliser when Patrick Roberts glided past four Millwall players, but his shot from inside the host's box was blocked.
Amad then drifted past his man moments later, his fizzing cross from the byline came inches from connecting with a red and white shirt.
An inspired Tony Mowbray double substitution worked wonders, Cirkin rose highest to powerfully head Alex Pritchard’s floated free kick past George Long to level the scores and grab his side a hard-earned point.
The Black Cats remain in 9th place, while Millwall entertain 7th spot having racked up one more point so far this campaign.
Sunderland Team: Patterson, Hume, Batth ©, Ballard, Alese (Cirkin 66’) (Anderson 83’), Neil, Michut (Ekwah 83’), Roberts, Amad, Clarke (Pritchard 62’), Gelhardt (Ba 89’)
Subs not used: Bass, Bennette.
Goalscorer: Cirkin 82’
Millwall Team: Long, McNamara, Wallace, Cooper ©, Mitchell, Bradshaw (Burke 83’), Flemming, Cresswell, Bennett (Watmore 46’), Saville, Honeyman.
Subs not used: Bialkowski, Malone, Shackleton, Leonard, Voglsammer.
Goalscorer: Cooper 60’