Sunderland 2 West Ham 2

It had all looked so good for the Irons in the first half.

Guillermo Franco scored his first goal for the club when he turned in Jack Collison's low cross on the half-hour and six minutes later Carlton Cole blasted home a second, again from a Collison pass.

But West Ham were pegged back when ex-Charlton player Andy Reid curled home a free kick on 39 minutes, leaving Rob Green rooted to the spot.

Sunderland had Kenwyne Jones sent off for violent conduct after an off-the-ball push on Herita Ilunga and it looked as though West Ham would see out the game and pick up only their second Premier League win of the season.

But Sunderland refused to lie down despite their numerical disadvantage and after hitting the bar a couple of times earned their reward when Richardson bundled the ball home after Darren Bent's deflected cross looped over Green.

Kovac was sent off three minutes from time when he received a second yellow card for kicking Bent, although the Czech international can count himself unlucky as the foul certainly did not seem intentional.

Gianfranco Zola was unhappy at the result, and Kovac's dismissal.

He said: "I'm not happy at all. We were in control of the game and I didn't expect them to come back. The way we play sometimes is very impressive but we need to be more mature.

"I was disappointed with Kovac's sending off because he didn't see Darren Bent."

Sunderland: Gordon, Turner, Nosworthy, Da Silva, Henderson, Richardson, Malbranque (McCartney, 81), Cana, Reid, Bent, Jones. Unused subs: Fulop, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Meyler, Murphy, Healy.

Booked: Turner, Cana, Bent.

Sent off: Jones.

Goals: Reid 39, Richardson 76

West Ham: Green, Spector, Ilunga, Tomkins, Upson, Kovac, Noble, Behrami (Diamanti, 67), Collison, Franco (Hines, 72), Cole. Unused subs: Kurucz, Gabbidon, Jiminez, Faubert, Stanislas.

Booked: Ilunga, Cole, Kovac.

Sent off: Kovac (second yellow)

Goals: Franco 30, Cole 36

Attendance: 39,033

Referee: Andre Marriner