O'Neill praises Mignolet following Fulham draw

Martin O'Neill was full of praise for goalkeeper Simon Mignolet after the Belgian played a huge part in Sunderland's 2-2 draw with Fulham on Saturday.

With the Black Cats trailing 2-1, the big Belgian stopper denied Dimitar Berbatov with an outstretched leg, allowing the Lads to break forward and equalise through Stephane Sessegnon.

Fulham were ahead after 16 minutes thanks to Berbatov's hotly-contested penalty before Sascha Riether added a second.

Craig Gardner halved the deficit from the penalty spot before half-time, and with 20 minutes left, Sessegnon slammed home the equliser.

Speaking afterwards to the official site, O'Neill hailed Mignolet for his part in the game's turning point.

"Simon`s save was a big moment for us. We could have gone 3-1 behind but within 25 seconds we made it two apiece,' admitted the Ulsterman.

O'Neill continued:

"It was a great fightback to get to 2-2.

"It was important to get a goal before half time and we managed to do that. We piled pressure on them and I think we deserved to take a point.

"There was the chance we were going to get a third goal but unfortunately it didn`t transpire.'

Sunderland are at bottom-of-the-league Queens Park Rangers next Saturday.

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