A late spot-kick from Leighton Baines rescued a point for Everton
The full-back scuffed his 76th-minute spot-kick under home goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon following Connor Wickham's illegal challenge on Seamus Coleman.
It came nine minutes after Sebastian Larsson had fired the Black Cats ahead with a superb free-kick, his first league strike from a set-piece since December 2011.
A tight contest remained in the balance until the final whistle, with keepers Pantilimon and Tim Howard both producing important saves before the goals started to go in, although James McCarthy's injury-time clearance denied Wes Brown a last-gasp winner.
Brown was denied an injury-time winner when McCarthy hacked his header from Bridcutt's cross off the line with Howard beaten as the visitors managed to hang on.
However, Gareth Barry was forced off the pitch on a stretcher with an ankle injury after being caught by Jordi Gomez in a seemingly innocuous challenge in the first half.
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