Sunderland 1 - 1 Everton

Marouane Fellaini's equaliser five minutes from time earned Everton a deserved point against Sunderland.

The hosts took the lead in the 17th minute when Darren Bent combined brilliantly with Kenwyn Jones to head past keeper Tim Howard from 10 yards.

Bent came close to adding a second minutes later but saw his shot cleared on the goal-line by Johnny Heitinga.

But sustained second-half pressure from Everton saw Fellaini convert Tony Hibbert's cross from 10 yards.

The Belgian midfielder was among a number of Everton players to impress during a second-half renaissance orchestrated by the endeavour and invention of Steven Pienaar.

The South Africa midfielder was at the centre of Everton's most promising moves, constantly tormenting full-backs George McCartney and Phil Bardsley.

However, neither team will be satisfied with a point - with only one victory in their previous 10 matches apiece, both Sunderland and Everton were in desperate need of three festive points to reinvigorate their rapidly deflating league campaigns.

With Michael Turner unavailable because of a four-match suspension, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce turned to Paulo da Silva to partner John Mensah in central defence, while captain Lorik Cana replaced the injured Lee Cattermole in midfield.

Everton boss Dave Moyes had no such concerns, naming an unchanged XI from the team that started in the 1-1 draw against Birmingham.

The continuity in selection clearly benefitted the visitors, with Pienaar and Tim Cahill in particular dictating the tempo of the early exchanges with a series of neat interchanges and intelligent runs.

The duo were involved in the build-up as Leon Osman struck the outside of Marton Fulop's left-hand post with a sweetly struck, right-foot curling effort from the edge of the area.