Simon Vukcevic had headed the visitors into a 17th-minute lead at the Stadium of Light and Scott Dann saw a 41st-minute strike ruled out for a foul by Christopher Samba on goalkeeper Keiren Westwood. However, just as new manager Martin O'Neill's first game in charge looked like ending in defeat, David Vaughan smashed home a stunning equaliser and Larsson curled home an injury-time free-kick to lift the Black Cats out of the bottom three. "We needed a win and in that kind of a manner," Larsson told Sky Sports 1. "I've never had that much possession that we did in the second half but we just couldn't score until Vaughan popped up with a fantastic strike." Asked about the influence of O'Neill, Larsson added: "He's come in with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and told us he believes in us. "We've had a tough time but this will do us the world of good and hopefully we can push on. "I think we deserved to win but we've said that all season and you can't keep saying it." Blackburn manager Steve Kean felt his side had a perfectly good goal disallowed in the first half. "I'm really, really disappointed," Kean said. "I felt we had a very legitimate second goal; Westwood has banged into Chris Samba and Chris is just stood there. "I don't know why [it was disallowed]. Sometimes the size of Chris Samba brings fouls for some reason when he wasn't even jumping for the ball." Kean was forced to make all three of his substitutions by the 51st minute and added on Sky Sports News: "We had to make a lot of changes. "Gael Givet has heart palpitations and comes off, then Martin Olsson feels his hamstring... it's tough at the moment but I thought we did well enough to get a point." O'Neill felt his side deserved the win after dominating possession in the second half as Blackburn tried to sit back and defend their lead. "For periods it was a microcosm of our season, we played well enough, were not able to score and then succumb to a poor goal," O'Neill said. "But I thought the players were terrific, the way they kept at it. "I thought we deserved to win the game but you don't always get what you deserve. We had loads of possession and were just hoping to get that break. "We've got some points which is vital for confidence and the crowd. The roar for the equaliser you could have heard miles away."
