BLACKBURN, England (AFP) - – El Hadji Diouf rescued Blackburn as the Senegal striker came off the bench to earn a 2-2 draw against Sunderland on Monday.
Sam Allardyce's side were heading for defeat when Darren Bent scored his second goal of the game midway through the second half at Ewood Park.
Bent's double had come either side of an equaliser by Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen and it needed Diouf's strike with 13 minutes remaining to bail out the hosts, who remain two points behind mid-table Sunderland.
Black Cats midfielder David Meyler, 20, was handed his first-team debut as boss Steve Bruce made four changes to the side that drew with Everton on Boxing Day.
Blackburn kicked off without a win in six league games but they made a bright start and threatened to go in front when midfielder Keith Andrews flashed a powerful shot just wide.
Allardyce's team went close again through South African striker Benni McCarthy, who met Pedersen's cross with header from a tight angle that landed on the roof of the net.
Andrews forced Sunderland goalkeeper Marton Fulop to scramble across goal with a skimming shot before half-time, but his effort was narrowly wide of the mark.
After a tepid first half, the match sparked into life when Sunderland took the lead in the 52nd minute. Daryl Murphy's low cross was pushed out by Paul Robinson into the path of Jordan Henderson, who saw his shot blocked by Ryan Nelsen and Bent was on hand to poke home the rebound from close-range.
But Rovers hit back immediately and levelled within a minute when McCarthy's flick gave Pedersen room to cut in and drill his low shot in off a post.
Parity was short-lived for Rovers as Henderson's long ball forward in the 65th minute sent Bent clear on goal and he drove a superb finish past Robinson for his 13th goal of the season.
Bent could have finished off Blackburn in the 72nd minute but shot wide with just Robinson to beat.
Allardyce responded with a triple substitution and his gamble paid instant dividends.
With strikers Diouf, Franco di Santo and Nikola Kalinic on for Roberts, McCarthy and Hoilett, Blackburn drew level in the 77th minute.
Pascal Chimbonda's cross picked out Diouf and the Senegal striker directed his header past Fulop.
Kalinic's header from a Pedersen free-kick could have won it for Blackburn in the last minute but Fulop saved before Christopher Samba fired the rebound wide.