Virgil van Dijk denies Sunderland win in stoppage time

Virgil van Dijk snatched a stoppage-time equaliser for 10-man Southampton as the Saints denied struggling Sunderland a huge win at St Mary's this afternoon in the Premier League.

Southampton had skipper Jose Fonte sent off and Jermain Defoe appeared to have earned Sunderland a huge three points soon after until Van Dijk's last-gasp leveller.

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After a quiet start to the match, the first real chance arrived in the 26th minute when Vito Mannone was equal to Dusan Tadic's shot from Graziano Pelle's knockdown.

Sunderland were then inches away from taking the lead shortly after the half-hour mark through Wahbi Khazri, whose free kick came back off the upright.

Jack Rodwell and Oriol Romeu both then spurned chances before the interval as the contest began to open up.

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Fabio Borini was the first to go close after half time, first firing just over before Fraser Forster kept him at bay minutes later.

Fonte was given his marching orders in the 79th minute for bringing down Borini as the Italian looked to go through on goal, and Sunderland then went in front with five minutes remaining when substitute Defoe tucked home after being found by Lamine Kone.

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The Black Cats could not hold out for a first win in three, though, as Van Dijk slammed home from close range in the dying seconds.

With the bottom three all losing, Sunderland edge a point above the drop zone but miss out on going three clear. Southampton, meanwhile, end their two-game losing streak and climb a place to eighth.