Jermain Defoe

Sunderland come from two down to snatch a draw at Liverpool

Published Feb. 6, 2016 11:58 a.m. ET

foxsports

Liverpool 2, Sunderland 2

Jurgen Klopp was absent with a suspected bout of appendicitis and Liverpool's 2-2 home draw with Sunderland will hardly have raised his spirits.

Roberto Firmino put the hosts ahead with 59 minutes on the clock when he superbly headed the ball back across Vito Mannone and into the net from James Milner's inch-perfect cross.

The Brazilian now has five in his last five league games and Liverpool only had to wait 10 minutes before doubling their advantage and it Firmino with the assist. He robbed Billy Jones and raced into the penalty area before squaring for Adam Lallana (70) to tap home from eight yards.

Sunderland grabbed a goal back through Adam Johnson on 82 minutes, but under-fire Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet should have stopped his low 25-yard free-kick, rather than allowing it to squirm under his body.

And Jermain Defoe made it 2-2 in the 89th minute when he received the ball on the penalty spot and span Mamadou Sakho before firing powerfully past Mignolet.

Newcastle 1, West Brom 0

Aleksandar Mitrovic's fifth goal of the season dragged Newcastle out of the Premier League relegation zone as they edged past West Brom 1-0 at St James' Park.

The Serbia international's 32nd-minute strike, which came three minutes after Cheick Tiote saw an effort ruled out for offside, proved enough to claim three precious points and give head coach Steve McClaren a little breathing space.

Newcastle might have won even more comfortably had it not been for a series of saves by Ben Foster, who needed the help of a post to prevent Andros Townsend from marking his home debut with a goal, but a crowd of 50,152 was left biting its nails as time ran down.

Aston Villa 2. Norwich City 0

Aston Villa chalked up a rare home win to offer them hope of avoiding the drop as Norwich were brushed aside 2-0 at Villa Park on Saturday.

On the stroke of half-time center-back Joleon Lescott climbed highest at the back post to nod home Carles Gil's free-kick.

And just six minutes into the second half Jordan Veretout played in a ball from the left wing and with Declan Rudd, who came charging out, nowhere near it Gabriel Agbonlahor strokeed the ball into an empty net for his first goal of the season.

Stoke 0, Everton 3

Everton registered back-to-back Barclays Premier League wins for the first time this season as a first-half blitz steered them to a 3-0 triumph over Stoke at a rain-lashed Britannia Stadium.

The Toffees grabbed the lead in the 11th minute as Romelu Lukaku's penalty took him to 20 goals for the campaign.

A Seamus Coleman header then extended the advantage in the 28th minute, and with Aaron Lennon punishing a Philipp Wollscheid error to add a third for the visitors in the 42nd, Roberto Martinez's men looked to have wrapped things up before the interval.

Things could have been even worse after the break for a lackluster Stoke side, with the efforts of their goalkeeper Jack Butland - including tipping a Lukaku header onto the bar - key in ensuring they sustained no further damage.

Everton have been accused of underachieving this term, but this was impressive stuff from the Merseyside outfit, who, having built upon their 3-0 win over Newcastle on Wednesday, are up to seventh in the table.

Swansea 1, Crystal Palace 1

Scott Dann's equalizer helped Crystal Palace end a run of five straight defeats as Swansea were held 1-1 at the Liberty Stadium.

Gylfi Sigurdsson's sumptuous free-kick, his fifth goal in six games, gave Swansea a 13th-minute lead which their first-half play merited.

But defender Dann struck two minutes after the restart to secure a point for a Palace side who were far improved after the break.

Although this result will do little for either side's ambitions to claw their way up the table, the draw at least provides some momentum for Swansea and Palace to take into their next games.