Bruce Praises The Lads

Steve Bruce kept his cool after Sunderland`s hard fought 2-2 draw at Anfield today, despite the sour nature of Liverpools opener.

The Black Cats may well have taken all three points had referee Stuart Attwell not allowed Fernando Torres to play on from Michael Turner`s un-taken free-kick.

Turner rolled the ball behind him for Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to take, but Torrres sprinted onto it and rolled Dirk Kuyt in to make it 1-0.

Speaking with safc.com, Bruce said: "When the first goal went in, everyone in the ground knew the free-kick hadn`t been taken."

The Sunderland boss didn't want to dwell on this though, and was keen to praise his players. He highlighted his side`s response to the opening goal as being key to the result. He said: "The way we played and the response after their first goal was excellent. We had to respond and we did that.

"We played some excellent football and I`m delighted to see it."
A Darren Bent double earned the Wearsiders a memorable point against another good side, and although the Reds are a club in turmoil, they were still expected to win.

The England man had yet another stellar performance full of energy and spark, and reaped the rewards for his hard work. Liverpool`s new signing Christian Poulsen handled in the area and Bent hammered home the penalty, beating Reina despite him getting a touch.

The best was yet to come from Sunderland`s top scorer when he dove at a well-worked Nedum Onuoha cross to head home and give the visitors a shock lead.

An equaliser from Steven Gerrard on 64 minutes against the run of play rescued a point for The Reds.

On this evidence, Sunderland have strengthened mentally this season. They will need all of their new-found guile next week as they welcome Manchester United to the Stadium of Light. Lets hope for another cracking match and another cracking result.

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