Fulham threw away the lead against ten man Sunderland at the Stadium of Light after Kenwyne Jones levelled a Simon Davies free-kick. Fulham had dominated the match and led since the 32nd minute but fell apart after their hosts were reduced to ten men following the dismissal of Greg Halford.

It is the sixth time this season that Fulham have taken the lead first in a Premier League match only to either draw or lose by the final whistle. They will still feel hard-done by, however, as they appeared to have a perfectly good goal disallowed that would have put them 2-0 up immediately after the dismissal.

Fulham had effectively dominated the first 45 minutes and most of the second, restricting Sunderland to two aerial efforts from Kenwyne Jones at each end of the period, before hitting self-destruct after Sunderland were reduced to ten following the sending-off of Greg Halford midway through the second half.

In between the chances from a Michael Chopra free kick and a Greg Halford centre respectively, Fulham should really have scored two or three before taking the lead just after the half hour from a superb Davies free-kick from around 30 yards out.

Earlier, Clint Dempsey had two great headed chances from Davies free-kicks, one glanced into Gordon's arms on three minutes and another sent wide minutes before Davies' goal.

The best opportunity of the half fell to David Healy, however. Davies had tried to thread Diomansy Kamara through on the right but the pass was too heavy and Danny Higginbotham calmly tried to play the ball back to Gordon. However, the former Manchester United, Derby and Southampton defender slipped as he tried to play the ball and gifted it to Healy who, on the edge of the box, had an open goal to aim at.

The Northern Ireland striker - renowned for his finishing - somehow sent it wide to give Sunderland some breathing space, whose fans were by now impatient to say the least.

Kamara was then denied a clear goalscoring opportunity when he raced clear and appeared to be tugged by Higginbotham before tumbling into the box, but Fulham got their goal when Davies' piece of magic eluded Craig Gordon, who was perhaps culpable in not judging the flight of the ball as it curled into the top left corner. The execution, however, was superb from the Welshman, who had been a danger throughout from the right with his open play and dead-ball delivery.

Sunderland started the second half with more belief, Nyron Nosworhy forcing an excellent save from Antti Niemi with a header from a corner. Niemi proved to be Fulham's hero as - after a Clint Dempsey overhead kick was blocked and Kamara' goal disallowed - the Cottagers were barely at the races for the rest of the match.

Those two efforts sandwiched Halford's dismissal, the former Colchester and - briefly - Reading man's face having been bloodied twice that afternoon before being shown a second yellow for a cynical tug on Healy.

But despite this the luck was starting to go Sunderland's way. Kamara was distraught when his superb finish from the left hand side of the box into the bottom right was ruled out after he was adjudged to have fouled Nosworthy, who appeared to have just slipped. It was a turning point that nullified another turning point and the Wearsiders sensed blood.

They were throwing everything forward and - bizarrely - Fulham were less adept at dealing with ten men as they were eleven. Niemi made the first of two world class saves when he somehow blocked a perfect, close-range volley from sub Antony Stokes as Lawrie Sanchez' men floundered at the back.

Whether it is a lack of tactical nous under pressure or simply poor stamina, this Fulham side seem incapable of defending anything late on, panicking at the slightest hint of trouble. Sunderland piled it on and, eventually, the Whites cracked, Jones their only real danger-man but inexplicably given an unmarked route to head powerfully into the roof of the net on 83 minutes.

Only one team were going to win it and win it they nearly did. Sub Shefki Kuqi made a game-saving header in the last minute when he snatched the ball away from under Jones' nose as he prepared to score another trademark goal, while Niemi earned his crust again when he made a frankly incredible save from Stokes after he sprung the offside trap, ghosted past the falling debutant Elliot Omozusi and cut behind Dejan Stefanovic and seemed certain to score.

Fulham held on when they should have been winning comfortably, slipping further away from the top half of the table after wins for Reading and Birmingham. Sunderland also dropped one place, to 15th, behind Fulham only on goal difference.

Reda Maher / Eurosport