SUNDERLAND, England – Sunderland striker Fraizer Campbell scored on his first appearance since August 2010 to rescue a 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Second-tier Middlesbrough led against its local rival when Barry Robson capitalized on some weak defending to smash a 16th-minute volley across goalkeeper Simon Mignolet and in at the far post.
Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill introduced Campbell at halftime as a substitute for Connor Wickham and the former Manchester United trainee stroked in a low shot 14 minutes later following a mistake by Robson.
Campbell had not played for the first team for 500 days because of knee injuries.
“I was delighted to be back out there,” Campbell said. “You can’t put it into words. It was a tough 18 months for myself, but days like this are what I’ve been waiting for and hopefully now I can stay injury-free and just do what I do.”
The teams will replay at Middlesbrough on Feb. 7 to decide which will progress to the fifth round.
Robson, whose misplaced pass gave Sunderland the chance to break forward for the equalizer, took the blame for his team’s failure to win.
“That was a bit of slackness from myself and I’m disappointed,” Robson said. “It was a simple little task, but it happens, top footballers do it so we’ll move on.”
