West Brom 2 Sunderland 2: Irvine starts with a draw

West Brom 2 Sunderland 2: Irvine starts with a draw Sebastian Larsson’s late leveller denied Alan Irvine three points on his West Brom debut as Sunderland snatched a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

A brace from Saido Berahino cancelled out Lee Cattermole’s thunderbolt opener for Sunderland and appeared to have handed Irvine a dream start as the new Premier League season got under way. However, Larsson swept home a low strike in the 85th minute to ensure Gus Poyet’s men left The Hawthorns with a point. Irvine was a surprise choice to replace Pepe Mel as head coach in June and Cattermole ensured a nervy start to the 56-year-old’s West Brom bow with a rasping long-range drive after just five minutes. But West Brom were level shortly before the break when the hosts were awarded a debateable penalty before Berahino kept his cool from 12 yards.

Steven Fletcher had a goal ruled out for offside after the break and Sunderland were further frustrated when Berahino finished from close range in the 74th minute. However, Larsson had the last say with a composed finish after good work from Patrick van Aanholt. Cattermole, who had previously netted just once for Sunderland, opened the scoring with an unstoppable strike in the fifth minute. The 26-year-old collected the ball 25 yards from goal after a Sunderland set-piece and lashed his strike into the top right-hand corner, Ben Foster unable to keep it out despite getting his hands on the ball. Posted by Vivian Yu at 7:4