And, right on cue, up popped Adam Johnson to fire in a gorgeous equaliser to keep unconvincing Manchester City on track for a top four finish.
The City winger is a self-confessed Sunderland fan and a large swathe of one end of the Stadium of Light was made up of his family and friends, decked in red and white scarves.
They must have been in a quandary when Johnson, still hopeful of a surprise place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad, weighed up his options as the game moved into added time.
City had been denied by an inspired Craig Gordon as they stepped up their hunt for an equaliser in the second-half, the goalkeeper thwarting them at every turn.
It needed something special to beat Gordon, and Johnson provided it.
Spotting a chink of light through a crowded goalmouth, he curled the ball perfectly into it.
Mancini seemingly cannot resist chucking in a little change to his team, even after a win away to the league leaders in the last game.
This was not such a huge surprise though, as the Italian showed there is no great problem between him and Shaun Wright-Phillips by selecting him ahead of Adam Johnson. It looked a sound selection.
Sunderland are vulnerable in the full-back positions with Alan Hutton too adventurous on one side and Anton Ferdinand filling in on the other.
With Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Pablo Zabaleta again forming a formidable midfield trio, the plan was clearly to get at the Black Cats down the flanks.
The defence was also left intact from the Stamford Bridge triumph, with skipper Kolo Toure left on the bench after recovering from injury.
In the first-half, quite simply, it looked like the manager had got it hopelessly wrong.
Anonymous City
Bellamy and Wright-Phillips were anonymous and it was Sunderland who found space on the flanks - and when they couldn't go round that midfield trio, they simply went over them.
Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent were a big handful and when Steed Malbranque slung over a cross in the ninth minute, Jones got ahead of Kompany and headed the home side into a deserved lead.
The travelling City fans looked for a strong response from their team, but they got nothing.
Even Carlos Tevez was subdued. The man who stepped off the plane to inspire a revival at Stamford Bridge looked for long spells like he wished he'd stayed on board the flight in from Buenos Aires earlier this week.
He cut an isolated figure and when Roque Santa Cruz replaced the injured Wayne Bridge just after the half-hour mark, he receded further into the background.
Most disappointing was the shortage of endeavour for the first 45 minutes when Sunderland played like a side scrapping for their lives.
City looked anything but a team fighting for the glory of the club's first foray into the Champions League.
It had to change, and it did.
The Blues came out in the second-half sharper and a yard faster and in the space of three minutes fashioned three good chances.
Tevez, suddenly alive, nipped the first one into the path of Santa Cruz but with just keeper Craig Gordon to beat, he perhaps lacked the match sharpness needed to convert it.
Then, moments later, Barry reversed a clever pass for Wright-Phillips in a situation he usually relishes.
He closed in on the right side of goal again with just Gordon in the way.
He fired his shot at the near post, but Gordon stuck out a foot to deny him.
Bellamy was next, finding a yard on the left flank and, and when his attempted cross screwed off his foot towards goal Gordon again reacted sharply to beat it away.
It began to feel like City would need a lucky break to get anything out of the game.
Bellamy drive
But when you need some luck, the last thing you want is 11 Black Cats in your way, and a Scouser in black officiating.
It looked like the good fortune might just happen as Bellamy tried to storm away, and two Sunderland defenders tripped over each other.
Remarkably, referee Chris Foy blew up for a foul by Bellamy, a dreadful decision, and the type on which games can turn.
When the Blues opened Sunderland up again, there was the keeper once more, standing firm.
Bellamy's cross from the right found Tevez, and his close range shot was blocked by the Scots keeper, with sub Patrick Vieira unable to turn in the rebound.
Gordon was in one of those moods. With ten minutes left, Vieira sent Bellamy haring clear of Hutton, but again the keeper stuck out a leg to keep out his shot.
From the resulting corner, he was on hand to block as Joleon Lescott tried to turn the ball in from close range.
When he again kept out Bellamy from Vieira's chest-down, it looked like the game was up.
But when Adam Johnson popped up on the right, as the game moved into added time, there was still some drama left.
He stepped inside, measured his shot and curled it into the far corner.
And not even the inspired Gordon could stop the winger's superb shot this time.
What do you think? Have your say.
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Blue Jazzman, Marple (15/03/2010 at 10:08)
And whilst, this may seem a strange conclusion to come to after what seems like two points dropped at Sunderland, I can see what he is trying to achieve and I can see that what is preventing him achieving it is an inability by too many player to listen and learn and make correct decisions under pressure
Yesterday’s 1st half failings could be put down allowing the SAFC strikers to panic our defence into hoofing long balls to Tevez instead of passing out of defence. In the second half with no Kenwynne Jones, that pressure wasn’t there and we had all the possession we needed to win by a bagful, but the decision making by our front men, SWP, Bellamy and Santa Cruz, in particular, was woeful, shooting from acute angles rather than finding spare men in the box, making Gordon look better than he is.
Had this not been so, Tevez could have had a hat trick
I feel that some players have learnt and listened and acted accordingly and are thriving under RM
VK, Lescott, Zab, Barry, NDJ, (Adam J will do but it is a bit early to call)
What do these guys have in common – They are all intelligent
Of the others, Bellamy, Ireland, SWP, Richards, what do they have in common – well it isn’t intelligence, is it? (and they all think they are better than they are)
Don’t get me wrong I love having Bellers on our side, but he is a maverick and with the brief Mancini has, he needs players with composure who can think as well as play and can follow instruction
Viera is clearly not a long term option, but his brief appearance yesterday, showed how much we need a box to box player of his style and ability, but about 10 years younger and twice as fast
When we equalised yesterday, RM was furious with his players for celebrating instead of using every remaining second to go for a winner - I liked that
I want to see Mancini given the chance, in the close season, to build the squad around intelligent players who can follow instructions. This man is a winner but too many of the players lack a brain