Sunderland 1 Middlesbrough 1: Campbell on return rescues Black Cats to earn replay

Fraizer Campbell emerged from his latest bout of injury misery to keep Sunderland's FA Cup dreams alive and deny Middlesbrough a famous victory.

The former Manchester United striker was introduced as a half-time substitute, in the process making his first senior appearance since August 2010 as a result of two serious knee injuries.

He needed just 18 minutes to make an impact, sliding the ball past Boro keeper Danny Coyne from James McClean's pinpoint pass to cancel out Barry Robson's first-half opener.

Welcome back: Campbell celebrates his equaliser to earn Sunderland a replay

MATCH FACTS

Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, O'Shea, Brown, Richardson, Larsson, Vaughan, Gardner, McClean, Sessegnon, Wickham.

Subs: Westwood, Turner, Campbell, Colback, Ji, Meyler, Elmohamady.

Scorer: Campbell 59

Middlesbrough: Coyne, Hoyte, Bates, Rhys Williams, McMahon, Hines, Haroun, Robson, McDonald, Emnes, Jutkiewicz.

Subs: Ripley, Bennett, Luke Williams, Martin, Park, Main, Smallwood.

Booked: Hoyte, Williams.

Scorer: Robson 16

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Attendance: 33,275

The Black Cats had earlier seen a
Craig Gardner strike controversially ruled out, but their npower
Championship neighbours were good value for a replay after a
full-blooded fourth-round contest in front of a crowd of 33,275.

Sunderland were dealt a major blow
ahead of kick-off when skipper Lee Cattermole, who made his name as a
teenager at Boro, was ruled out by a hamstring injury, a misfortune
which was to prove significant before the break.

Gardner took his place in the middle
of the field, but without Cattermole's bite, the Teessiders were able to
prosper as Rhys Williams, Marvin Emnes and Robson, aided when not in
possession by Faris Haroun and Scott McDonald, made life intensely
difficult for their counterparts.

The visitors started brightly and
Black Cats keeper Simon Mignolet was relieved to grasp McDonald's
third-minute volley to his chest after it has initially threatened to
squirm from his grasp.

Sunderland gradually worked their way
into the game and might have gone ahead seven minutes later, only for
Sebastian Larsson to head wastefully wide after Stephane Sessegnon had
tricked his way past Robson and crossed from the right.

Boro had a lucky escape three minutes
later when defender Seb Hines headed a David Vaughan corner straight at
team-mate Haroun and saw the ball loop just over Coyne's crossbar.

But it was they who took the lead in spectacular style with 16 minutes gone.

Masterblaster: Robson stunning volley handed Boro the lead early in the first-half

Masterblaster: Robson stunning volley handed Boro the lead early in the first-half

Emnes made life difficult for
defender John O'Shea, captaining Sunderland in Cattermole's absence, and
he could only loop a weak header towards Robson on the left side of the
penalty area.

The former Celtic midfielder needed
no second invitation and unleashed a stinging volley which flew past
Mignolet's despairing dive and into the bottom corner.

The travelling fans behind Coyne's
goal were in raptures, but as the half worse on, it was they who started
to see far more of the ball than they would have liked.

Coyne got down well to block
McClean's 23rd-minute shot and was in the right place at the right time
to claim the winger's close-range header seconds later.

However, the game erupted into
controversy with six minutes of the half remaining after the Black Cats
thought they had dragged themselves back into it.

Leveller: Campbell celebrates scoring on his return for Sunderland

Leveller: Campbell celebrates scoring on his return for Sunderland

Gardner controlled Kieran
Richardson's cross with a hint of handball and fired home off the inside
of the far post with striker Connor Wickham watching the ball home at
close hand.

But the celebrations were ended
abruptly by a flag, and after consulting his assistant, referee Kevin
Friend ruled out the effort, apparently for offside against Wickham,
despite the fact that he had not intervened.

Sunderland's mood might have darkened
further on the stroke of half-time when Lukas Jutkiewicz found himself
in on goal, but Mignolet saved his initial effort and when Haroun fed
the rebound back to him, he fired harmlessly across goal.

Campbell replaced Wickham at the break, although it was Boro who enjoyed the better openings during the early exchanges.

Emnes volleyed just wide with 50
minutes gone and Robson curled a free-kick a yard past the post with the
visitors refusing to sit on their lead.

Up for the cup: The two teams will have to battle it out in the again for a place in the next round

The home side's fortunes took a turn
for the worse when defender Wes Brown limped off after landing awkwardly
following an aerial challenge with Emnes.

However, the 10 men levelled in stunning style as Michael Turner prepared to replace him.

McClean ran on to Robson's poor
back-pass before squaring for Campbell, who slipped his shot unerringly
past Coyne to send a sigh of relief around the stadium.

O'Neill's men tore into their
opponents as the momentum swang firmly their way, although Boro
continued to make a real fight of it.

Play switched rapidly from end to
end, but neither side was able to find the killer blow in a rousing
finale during which Williams was perhaps fortunate to see yellow rather
than red for a wild challenge on Vaughan.