Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray was full of admiration for the way Nigel Pearson has progressed his youthful side and admitted their counter-attacking qualities stifled them from playing their own game.
Neither manager could argue with a point at full-time as two in-form sides cancelled each other out on the pitch. City were in control of the contest when Jack Clarke fired the hosts ahead with Sunderland's first strike on target on the hour mark.
However, City's persistence and resilience were finally rewarded in stoppage time when Nahki Wells converted from the spot after Jay Dasilva was bundled to the ground. It was no less than the visitors deserved which maintained their unbeaten record in 2023.
It also stretched Pearson's impressive record over his experienced counterpart. Mowbray, 59, has come up trumps against the City boss in just two of the last 14 meetings between the pair.
With Sam Bell playing through the middle, Sunderland sat deep to prevent the striker from exploiting space in behind and limit City from playing to their strengths on the break. It was a tactic Mowbray adopted as a sign of respect for the way he views Pearson's side.
Speaking after the game, he said: "I think we played against a decent team. I think we played against a young, athletic and mobile team which we knew.
"It was their 11th game unbeaten so we knew it was going to be tough. We looked as if we had the opportunities that could have led to a second goal.
"We had a 15-minute period when we were in and around their goal but it didn't come and ultimately we got sucker-punched towards the end with the penalty.
"We have to say, well done to them. They dug in. They're a young, athletic team and they got a point. Good luck to them. I think both teams looked pretty young, and pretty athletic at times today. I could feel their threat.
"We've been watching them and we tried to organise our team to stop their counter-attacks. A lot of their goals and the points they pick up is when they nick it in midfield and break very quickly with athleticism which we tried to stop and it took a little bit away from our forward momentum when you try to protect against a team that plays counter-attack football.
"If you just go overly cavalier then you find yourself 2-0 down because of the way they play so we tried to protect it and it took a bit of sting away from what we generally try to do. When Jack whacked that one in, I thought we'd get over the line."
The average age of City's starting line-up was 24 and such is the strength in depth going forward, Pearson could turn to experienced heads from the substitute bench in Andi Weimann, Harry Cornick and Nahki Wells to offer a different test for Sunderland to deal with.
"What he's done with his young team, is he's given them some belief and confidence," Mowbray added. "He's taken some experienced players out of the team - his bench was full of experienced players today and it's full of young lads in the starting line-up.
"I think he rotated his team to do that. They were energetic and I liked watching them."
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