Sunderland failed to maintain their perfect start in the Europa League following a 1-1 draw with Lech Poznan.
Lech Poznan 1-1 Sunderland: Super sub Bengtsson ends visitors' perfect start
Despite taking the lead at Enea Stadion, Sunderland were held to a 1-1 draw by Lech Poznan in the Europa League.
Tymur Tutierov headed the Black Cats into an early lead, but Leo Bengtsson came off the bench to salvage a point for the visitors, who were denied victory by a late double save from Robin Roefs at Enea Stadion.
Sunderland were ahead after just two minutes in Poland after Nilson Angulo intercepted a poor pass from Mateusz Lis before crossing into the middle, where Tutierov was on hand to head in from close range.
The hosts immediately pushed for an equaliser and went close through Daniel Hakans, who poked wide of the target with the outside of his boot after going one-on-one with Roefs.
Granit Xhaka had his head in his hands after shooting straight at Lis following a lay-off from Malick Fofana, and the Poznan goalkeeper was called upon again after the break to keep out Nordi Mukiele's fierce drive from distance.
Bengtsson almost made an immediate impact off the bench, flashing a volley narrowly wide, but he scored the equaliser in the 70th minute as Sunderland failed to clear their lines from a corner, allowing the substitute to fire in at the near post.
Poznan's best chance to win the contest came shortly after when Mikael Ishak sent a low cross into the six-yard box, but Roefs saved Patrik Walemark's initial effort and managed to get back up to deny Michal Gurgul on the rebound.
Black Cats' European momentum stalls
With his side currently sitting bottom of the Premier League, Regis Le Bris would have hoped Sunderland could at least extend their winning start in the Europa League, but they were made to cling on for what could still be an important point.
The Black Cats will no doubt regret their missed chances before Bengtsson's equaliser, though both sides may feel they should have scored more than once.
Sunderland accumulated 2.76 expected goals (xG) from 25 shots, 11 of which were on target, while Poznan produced 2.47 xG from their 16 attempts as both goalkeepers made important interventions.
Lis certainly atoned for his early error, making 11 saves to keep Poznan in the contest, while Roefs' five saves at least keeps Sunderland unbeaten in the competition ahead of hosting Dinamo Zagreb on MD4.
Twenty-one-year-old Tutierov will also take positives from the match; after seeing a goal ruled out against Torreense last time out in the competition, the Ukrainian scored his first goal for the Black Cats.
