Marouane Fellaini secured a fourth successive Barclays Premier League draw for Everton as his last-gasp equaliser earned them a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

The Belgian snatched a point with an emphatic 85th-minute finish to deny the Black Cats a first league victory in six attempts.

Darren Bent had put the home side in front when he headed home Kenwyne Jones' 17th-minute cross, but Steve Bruce's men were once again unable to hang on to a lead.

It was the home side who staked their claim first, and Bent could easily have collected a hat-trick within the opening 21 minutes as centre-halves Lucas Neill and John Heitinga struggled to contain he and strike partner Kenwyne Jones.

He headed Andy Reid's sixth-minute free-kick wide but made no mistake 11 minutes later when he timed his run to perfection to meet Jones' cross with a firm downward header past Tim Howard. Neill's block then prevented Bent converting Jordan Henderson's cut-back.

Everton, who had earlier seen Leon Osman clip a post and Louis Saha twice fire wide, responded well but struggled to create a genuine goal threat in the remainder of the half.

They threatened seconds after the restart as Fellaini headed Leighton Baines' corner just wide of the goal.

Saha was twice foiled by John Mensah and then volleyed wide after Diniyar Bilyaletdinov helped on another Baines flag-kick, but Everton were almost caught on the break on the hour when Bent set up substitute Bolo Zenden, who forced Howard into a solid save.

The American turned over Paulo da Silva's powerful header from a 68th-minute Reid free-kick.

But Steven Pienaar whistled a long-range effort just wide and Saha pulled another shot across goal as a victory eluded the visitors.