Newcastle United avoided a first away defeat in the Tyne-Wear derby in over 27 years as they held on to a 1-1 draw against Sunderland on Saturday.

Sunderland looked the better of the two teams and had taken the lead in the 52nd minute through Danny Higginbotham but James Miler pulled Newcastle level in the 65th minute to give his team a fortuitous point from the game.

Sunderland pressed into attack right from the kick off and should have taken the lead inside the first two minutes when Carlos Edwards found Ross Wallace with a perfect cross but the striker shot wastefully wide of the target. Grant Leadbitter had two of Sunderland's best chances to score in the first half as he saw his first attempt saved by Steve Harper before Alan Smith blocked his shot on the line.

Sunderland finally took a deserved lead seven minutes into the second half when Higginbotham was the first to meet Leadbitter's cross at the far post to head home his team in the lead. The hosts looked on course for a first home win against their arch rivals in over 27 years before Milner restored parity through a very lucky goal.

The 21-year old floated down the left flank before crossing the ball into the area which hit the post before going past a helpless Craig Gordon to put Newcastle back on level terms. Kenwyne Jones almost put Sunderland back in the lead when he created room for himself on the edge of the penalty area but his shot went inches wide of the target.

Newcastle next face a tough home fixture against Liverpool while Sunderland play Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday. Watch Premier League live on free-football.tv.