ON THIS DAY: LIVERPOOL 2-2 SUNDERLAND

On this day in 2010 we visited Anfield to take on Liverpool and we conceded one of the dumbest goals you could think of. Steve Bruce described the goal as a ‘joke’ as we drew with Liverpool 2-2.
Early on in the Bruce era we were flying, but at Anfield we went 1-0 down in five minutes. A free kick in our own half would have no impending danger on our own goal right? Well it somehow did. We had our whole team forward for a long ball, but Michael Turner was ruled to have taken the free kick when he hit the ball with his heel towards Simon Mignolet. He’d argue he was moving the ball back for our keeper to take but as any other number nine would, Fernando Torres argued the ball had been played like a bad back pass. He and Dirk Kuyt had a two on one and Torres squared it to Kuyt for a tap in. And yet it’s somehow not the strangest goal between us two as a year before Bent scored the infamous beach ball goal.
I'm sure Liverpool fans were still having nightmares about Darren Bent and on his return to Anfield he would score the equaliser with a penalty after a Christian Poulsen handball, and we headed into the break level, although it felt like we should have been in front. We began the second half as we finished the first and we deservedly went ahead, Bent was at it again. This time with his head, getting on the end of a Nedum Onuoha cross with a bullet header.
Liverpool began to mount some pressure but we dealt with it well, until they got fortunate and a deflected cross found the head of Steven Gerrard. After that both sides seemed to settle for a draw and before the game you take it, but during the game it felt like two points dropped. Another game between us that was remembered for a shocking goal.