Sunderland rescued a 1-1 draw against 10-man Newcastle yesterday as Demba Ba’s late own goal cost his team a victory over their bitter rivals in the Tyne-Wear derby.

Martin O’Neill’s team had laboured in vain to break down the Newcastle defence despite having the numerical advantage following Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote’s 25th-minute dismissal.

Newcastle, who had taken the lead through Yohan Cabaye’s early strike, were hanging on for three points at the Stadium of Light until Senegal striker Ba diverted John O’Shea’s header into his own net with just four minutes remaining.

Ba’s own goal ensured the fourth 1-1 draw in the last six meetings between these two old enemies, but Sunderland, who have beaten Newcastle just once in their last 16 clashes, are still waiting for their first win over the Magpies since 2008.

Despite the late equaliser, Pardew was delighted with Newcastle’s spirit and said: “It was a magnificent effort. We said to the players before the game how important it was to the fans, we’ve now shown how important it is to us.”

A goal down, Sunderland were given a major boost with 25 minutes gone when Ivory Coast midfielder Tiote was sent off.

Referee Martin Atkinson had already blown for a foul on Tiote by Sunderland’s Jack Colback, but the Newcastle star carried on running and crashed into Steven Fletcher with his foot raised.

Atkinson deemed the challenge was worthy of a red card and a furious Tiote trudged off while Newcastle’s players protested.

In yesterday’s other match, QPR and Everton also drew 1-1 at Loftus Road.

QPR, seeking their first Premier League win of the season, went ahead with a brilliant solo goal from Junior Hoilett who scored after an 80-metre run early on.

Everton equalised after 33 minutes when the ball went in off goalkeeper Julio Cesar’s back after hitting a post following a Sylvain Distin header.

Everton finished with 10 men after Steven Pienaar was sent off for a second yellow card for a late challenge on Park Ji-sung after 61 minutes.

The result had little impact on the standings with Everton staying fourth on 15 points from their eight matches.

QPR moved to three points but stayed bottom with a worse goal difference than Reading.