Everton midfielder Tim Cahill snatched a scarcely merited victory for Everton in the second minute of stoppage time at Sunderland.

The Australian scored two minutes into time added on at the Stadium of Light to leave the home side floored.

Toffees boss David Moyes saw his side survive a second-half battering, with Nigel Martyn making a brilliant one-handed save to deny substitute Anthony Le Tallec.

The home side's fans had been taunting their Everton counterparts with a chorus of "You are going down with the Sunderland", but they were silenced as Cahill's goal left the Black Cats with just six points at the midway point of their season.

The stakes could hardly have been higher before kick-off. Promoted Sunderland must put together a series of wins to stand any chance of escaping the bottom three, while Everton, who had slumped to 17th, have looked unrelated to the side which finished fourth last season.

Mick McCarthy's Sunderland ended a nine-game losing run in the league with a goalless draw against Bolton on Boxing Day and were again well organised in defence, with Kelvin Davis saving from Tony Hibbert and former Sunderland player Kevin Kilbane.

They also had the better chances early on.

Liam Lawrence tested Martyn with a left-footed drive, and striker Jon Stead, still waiting for his first Sunderland goal, should have broken the deadlock on the half-hour mark.

The ball ricocheted from a midfield tussle straight into his path, but with just the 'keeper to beat, he drilled his shot straight into Martyn's arms.

Strike partner Andy Gray was replaced by Le Tallec four minutes before half-time, and although his confidence will have been boosted little by the ironic cheers from a section of the home support which accompanied his disappointed walk to the sideline, his impact had been minimal.

Sunderland, as they had on Boxing Day, returned early after half-time for a warm-up on the pitch, and when Everton re-emerged, they did so without James McFadden, whose place was taken by Marcus Bent.

The home side went close within seconds of the resumption when Stead fed Dean Whitehead, whose first touch allowed David Weir to intervene, with referee Rob Styles waving away the midfielder's muted appeals for a penalty.

Lawrence's clever backheel allowed Julio Arca to drill a 50th-minute cross towards Le Tallec in front of goal, but full-back Nuno Valente covered superbly to clear before the Frenchman could shoot.

McCarthy's men were enjoying their best spell of the game and might have taken the lead twice within seconds as the Merseysiders wobbled alarmingly.

First Martyn pulled off a super one-handed save to keep out Le Tallec's header from a 52nd-minute Lawrence cross, and then the former Mansfield midfielder hammered a long-range effort just wide from distance.

It took a good block from Joseph Yobo to deny Stead on 58 minutes with Tommy Miller heading wastefully off target after finding acres of space from the resulting corner.

But Stead saw another effort deflected wide after turning smartly on Justin Hoyte's 63rd-minute cross and Lawrence could not hit the target with a header from Arca's ball two minutes later.

Moyes' response was to replace midfielder Simon Davies with former Newcastle striker Duncan Ferguson with 23 minutes remaining, but Stead saw a left-footed effort drop inches wide seconds later.

Le Tallec scuffed a left-foot volley straight at Martyn three minutes later after Stead's shot had looped up off a defender, and Sunderland's desperation was mounting. But they still looked the likelier scorers.

Davis had to block bravely from Bent after Kilbane's 77th-minute corner was allowed to reach him at the far post and James Beattie curled a long-range free-kick wide.

But it took a superb challenge by Cahill to deny Lawrence in front of goal with nine minutes remaining.

Arca flashed an 86th-minute shot agonisingly wide of the far post, but two minutes into injury-time, Cahill arrived to meet Kilbane's corner with an unstoppable header.

Teams

Sunderland Davis, Hoyte, Breen, Caldwell, Collins, Lawrence, Whitehead, Miller, Arca, Stead (Murphy 87), Gray (Le Tallec 41).

Subs Not Used: Alnwick, Woods, Stubbs.

Booked: Breen.

Everton Martyn, Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Nuno Valente, Osman, Cahill, Davies (Ferguson 67), Kilbane, McFadden (Bent 45), Beattie.

Subs Not Used: Wright, Naysmith, Ferrari.

Booked: Cahill.

Goals: Cahill 90.

Att: 30,576

Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).