Wolves 3 Sunderland 2

Super-sub Sylvan Ebanks-Blake gave Wolves a vital lifeline to end their run of four defeats.

Ebanks-Blake rifled home his fourth goal of the season in the 88th minute – and he may never score a more vital one.

Fellow sub Stephen Hunt made it 2-2 with nine minutes to go after Sunderland hit back through Darren Bent and Danny Welbeck following Kevin Foley's 50th minute opener.

Watched by Molineux's lowest Premier League crowd – 25,112 – there was plenty of action to warm the fans on a freezing day.

Kieran Richardson hit the inside of the post in the first-half, after Richard Stearman appeared to have a perfectly legitimate effort ruled out for offside after 22 minutes.

And Wolves were good value for their much-needed victory after dominating most of the game and seeing chances from Matt Jarvis and Kevin Doyle go to waste.

Wolves again couldn't keep a clean sheet, but their second win in 15 games kept them off the bottom and narrowed the gap to safety to three points, after Fulham drew 1-1 with Birmingham and West Ham beat Wigan 3-1.

Manager Mick McCarthy made four changes to the side beaten 2-1 at Blackpool last week.

Back came goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey for his first Premier League appearance in a year, while Ronald Zubar, Stephen Ward and Nenad Milijas were recalled.

They came at the expense of Marcus Hahnemann, the suspended Christophe Berra, the injured Karl Henry and Stephen Hunt.

Hahnemann and Hunt dropped to the bench, while Kevin Foley, passed fit to play but with a heavy strapping on his injured knee, was captain for the first time in a Premier League game.

But for all the changes, it was Sunderland who broke first with two good chances in the first 10 minutes.

Darren Bent was put clean through by new England cap Jordan Henderson and, although he got away from George Elokobi, he could only drill a low shot straight at Hennessey.

Boudewijn Zenden was next to try his luck, curling inches wide as Ward failed to get close enough to him inside the box.

But Wolves quickly came into the game and Richard Stearman was fractionally away from connecting with a Matt Jarvis corner missed by goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Two controversial decisions by the officials then cost Wolves.

First referee Mike Jones failed to spot Lee Cattermole pulling Milijas to the ground when challenging for Ward's cross, Kevin Doyle lashing over from the rebound.

Then, in the 22nd minute, World Cup linesman Darren Cann disallowed Stearman's effort after he stabbed home, as Cattermole slid in with Gordon at first playing him on, after Elokobi turned and fired goalwards when Jarvis' corner was partly cleared.

The decision looked an awful one at first and only after seeing the replay several times did Cann's flag seem justified – even then, the margins were so tight that the official got lucky.

But Wolves had a scare on the half hour when Kieran Richardson smacked a curling free kick against the inside of the post, from the right hand edge of the area after Elokobi was booked for deliberate handball.

Wolves put the frustrations of the first-half behind them to attack from the restart.

After Zubar saw a rising left-footed whistle just past the post from the edge of the area, McCarthy's side took a deserved lead in the 50th minute.

Foley grabbed his third in seven games to finish off a flowing move he started himself, with a sweeping pass out to the unmarked Jarvis on the left.

Jarvis' shot was parried by Gordon at full stretch and Foley drove home confidently first time with his left foot from 15 yards.

Sunderland made a double substitution in the 56th minute when they brought on Steed Malbranque and Asamoah Gyan, for Jordan Henderson and Zenden.

But it was Wolves, who introduced Hunt for David Jones on 63, who looked the more likely scorers with Jarvis firing over after a superb pass from Milijas.

However, Sunderland equalised out of the blue four minutes later.

It was an awful mistake from Stearman, who failed to react when Gyan's headed flick landed at his feet, allowed Bent to gallop clear and slide the ball across Hennessey and into the opposite corner of the net.

Bent almost gave the Black Cats an unlikely lead moments later when he lashed into the side-netting, after more sloppy play from Stearman.

And the visitors continued to probe, with Malbranque seeing an ambitious curling shot tipped over by Hennessey.

It got worse for Wolves though, when McCarthy's summer target Welbeck climbed above Elokobi to glance home Phil Bardsley's cross on 77.

But Wolves hauled themselves back into it when Hunt tapped home from almost on the line, after Elokobi's powerful header had been parried by Gordon from Jarvis' cross, which followed Milijas' blocked piledriver.

Then came Ebanks-Blake's - almost divine - intervention.