Southampton, faced with upheavals off the pitch this week following the resignation of chairman Nicola Cortese and doubts over the future of coach Mauricio Pochettino, were also rocked on it with Gaston Ramirez and Dejan Lovren being carried off on a stretcher after being hurt late in the game.
The Saints dominated the first half-an-hour and deservedly led with goals from Jay Rodriguez, who scored with a shot from just outside the penalty area after four minutes, and Lovren who made it 2-0 with a right-foot shot after 31.
Sunderland immediately halved the deficit when Fabio Borini netted with a low angled shot a minute later and they pulled level when the in-form Adam Johnson hammered home after 71.
In between those two strikes Borini also had a goal disallowed when he was ruled narrowly offside after planting home a well-taken strike after 64 minutes.
The result meant Southampton stayed ninth before the rest of the afternoon's league programme.
(Reporting by Mike Collett; editing by Tony Jimenez)
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