Newcastle United ended a four-game losing streak with a 1-1 draw against Sunderland at St James' Park on Sunday.

The Black Cats took the lead through a Jermain Defoe volley on the stroke of half-time and appeared to be on the verge of moving out of the relegation zone with a much needed three points.

However, Aleksandar Mitrovic headed home Georginio Wijnaldum's cross in the 83rd minute of the contest to ensure the Magpies took home a share of the spoils.

The result did little for either side in terms of ladder position, with Newcastle still wallowing in 19th place, while Sunderland sit just one spot above them, two points from safety.

MATCH OVERVIEW


Newcastle United: 1 (Aleksandar Mitrovic 83')

Sunderland: 1 (Jermain Defoe 44')

St James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 52,311

TALKING POINTS


Newcastle continue to show improvement under new manager Rafa Benitez, with the Magpies enjoying 60 per cent of possession and firing 17 shots at goal during this contest. The manner in which his side continued to fight in order to pick up a valuable point will give Benitez plenty of encouragement going forward.

Sunderland will feel as though they dropped two points against their bitter rivals, having surrendered their lead late in the contest after squandering earlier opportunities to put the result beyond doubt. Jermain Defoe scored his eighth goal in his past 11 outings, but was unable to convert a host of other good chances.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Newcastle travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich City on April 2, while Sunderland host West Bromwich Albion at the Stadium of Light on the same day.

TWITTER INSIGHT

Great come back second half and unbelievable atmosphere especially when mitro scored. Need to take positives and keep pushing on. #nufc
— Robert Elliot (@the_dilsh) March 20, 2016

We tried our hardest to make it 7! A point will do for now... #SAFC fans were louder then ever before! Love you all! pic.twitter.com/jmc2KTvEcl
— Fabio Borini (@borinifabio29) March 20, 2016

QUOTES CORNER

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez was pleased with how his side responded after falling behind:

"The positive thing for me is we have eight games to play and the reaction today from the players was positive. To win would have been perfect but when you are losing in the first half and keep the same gap, it's positive.

"The main thing was that the fans supported us today and we want that in every single game.

Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce was upset with his side's defending:

"For me, if we don't start getting these clean sheets it's going to be a massive problem. We are a team that has to score twice to win.

"Sadly we didn't get the second goal and we conceded late on again. We had the chances to put the game to bed, but missed them.


STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta

3 – Jermain Defoe has scored in each of his last three Premier League appearances vs Newcastle at St. James' Park. Menace.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 20, 2016

1 - Rafa Benitez has lost just one of his 10 Premier League games against Sunderland, winning the other nine. Beachball.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 20, 2016