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Roy Keane endured an uncomfortable time before he was able to celebrate on his return to the City Ground last night as Sunderland came from behind to defeat Nottingham Forest 2-1 in the Carling Cup second-round tie. Phil Bardsley scored an equalising goal for Sunderland four minutes from time, before David Healy struck the winning goal early in extra time.

Keane will quickly have put aside memories of Brian Clough, his former manager and mentor, as he looked to end his managerial hoodoo by recording a first cup win since taking charge of Sunderland. But things proved far from straightforward.

Both sides struggled to carve out chances but Forest showed the greater determination as they put good pressure on the visiting side every time they lost possession. Robert Earnshaw came close to putting the finishing touches to Matt Thornhill’s dangerous cross after the break, but a cynical foul from Nyron Nosworthy on the Wales forward just outside the area provided the perfect opportunity for them to take the lead after an hour. Earnshaw made no mistake with the free kick by firing the ball into the top right-hand corner.

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Sunderland looked to hit back as a dangerous free kick from Andy Reid forced the home team into conceding a corner, before a header from Pascal Chimbonda failed to make Paul Smith work. Earnshaw had the chance to make it 2-0 when he wrong-footed the Sunderland defence but sent his strike over the bar.

Sunderland had recalled Chimbonda in defence, while Djibril Cissé, the striker, earned his first start after scoring the winner away to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Cissé had the first effort of the game when he cut in from the right, but his powerful strike went over the crossbar.

Danny Collins then had a genuine chance to break the deadlock as he met Reid’s cross, but the centre back failed to get his effort on target. Forest began to get a grip on the game but struggled to carve out any real opportunities and the visiting side looked to hit the Coca-Cola Championship side on the break with Cissé and Reid linking up well before Wes Morgan made a smart block to foil Reid’s effort.

Forest’s pressure then resulted in a fine chance for Julian Bennett when he latched on to Thornhill’s cross, but the defender lacked composure as he failed to keep his header down.

Luke Chambers then broke down the right for the Colin Calderwood’s side and slid the ball across but Bardsley timed his tackle perfectly to beat Earnshaw to the ball. Steed Malbranque, one of Sunderland’s summer signings, was forced off after only 19 minutes with Liam Miller coming on in his place. Cissé then came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock when he broke through the Forest defence and fired against the post. Reid hit a free kick into the box which Daryl Murphy managed to get a strong header to, forcing Smith to tip the ball wide. The ball then found its way to Cissé after the resulting corner but the France striker volleyed high over the crossbar.

As Forest looked to regain their momentum, they were hit on the break again, with Dean Whitehead beating the offside trap and running through, only for Smith to deny him with another fine save.

The newly promoted home side were proving more than a match for the visiting team. Sunderland continued to look dangerous on the break and nearly scored with Cissé thumping the woodwork in the 24th minute and Whitehead being denied by a fine save from Smith.