Sunderland scored an injury-time winner to secure their Premier League status with a 3-2 derby victory over Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light.

In a see-saw match, the Black Cats looked set to settle for a point after Afonso Alves's second-half strike had levelled the scores at 2-2, but the last-ditch goal - which was claimed by substitute Daryl Murphy but looked to have gone in off Boro's Emanuel Pogatetz - gave Roy Keane's men a vital three points.

It also gives their fans local bragging rights over the Teesiders, whose own top flight status is not certain after this result.

The scoreline was hard on Gareth Southgate's side, who played a full part in a game which bucked the trend for safety-first football in crucial matches.

It was Boro who scored the opening goal with just four minutes gone. The Sunderland defence was split open by a simple pass forward from Alves, which put Tuncay Sanli one-on-one with Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon. The Turkish striker made no mistake with the opportunity, as he half-volleyed the ball into the left-hand corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season.

The reaction from Sunderland was swift. They launched a route-one attack directly from the re-start, which saw Kenwyne Jones tee-up his strike partner Michael Chopra, who connected beautifully with his shot inside the box, but a desperate lunge from a back-tracking Andrew Taylor diverted the ball over the bar for a corner.

The corner was half cleared by Middlesbrough, but Sunderland regained possession on the edge of the area. The ball was worked to Danny Collins on the left flank, and his curling cross was powered home by the head of Danny Higginbotham.

Chopra almost scored again after chasing down a long ball on ten minutes, but his dinked effort past an on-rushing Brad Jones dropped wide of the goal.

And Tuncay came within inches of his second midway through the half, when he headed a Stewart Downing cross fractionally wide of Gordon's right post.

Downing had the ball in the back of the net again for Middlesbrough on the half-hour mark, but the goal was correctly chalked off for offside after the England winger had just mistimed his run on to Alves's deft through ball.

Alves himself had good reason to complain when he was flagged offside five minutes later though, as the linesman wrongly pulled the Brazilian back when he was clear through on goal.

Boro's frustration was compounded as they fell behind for the first time on the stroke of half time. There appeared to be little on as Chopra chased down a long Liam Miller ball into the right channel, but the striker skipped inside David Wheater like he wasn't there before curling a left-footed shot into the top right corner.

The goal seemed to galvanise Sunderland, who dominated the opening of the second period. But for all their possession, the hosts struggled to create chances. When they did manage to feed Chopra in the box, through a Dean Whitehead cross from the right, Boro's Brad Jones pulled off a brilliant one-handed save to keep his side in it.

Middlesbrough's equaliser on 72 minutes came against the run of play. Downing had missed a glorious chance seconds before the ball came to Alves in the box, and the January signing showed his team-mate how it's done with a low shot on the stretch which trickled over the line.

That looked to be enough to earn Boro a point, but Sunderland rallied again to score a third in injury time from a Grant Leadbitter corner. Replays suggested it may have been a Pogatetz own-goal rather than a goal for Murphy, who nonetheless peeled away to celebrate with the jubilant home fans, who won't care who scored it as they celebrate their team's survival.

Ben Phillips / Eurosport