Substitute Femi Azeez’s first Millwall goal rescued a point for the Lions in added time against Sunderland, who returned to the top of the Championship.

The Black Cats led through Aaron Connolly’s 10th-minute volley before the players were taken off the pitch for half an hour while medical staff attended two separate emergencies in the crowd.

Millwall were a team transformed after the break and returning Sunderland keeper Anthony Patterson pulled off a string of saves to preserve his side's lead.

But the hosts eventually found the goal their pressure deserved deep into added time as Azeez tapped in from a cross by fellow sub Aidomo Emakhu to extend the Lions' unbeaten run to eight games.

Sunderland's fourth consecutive draw moves them back to the top of the table above Sheffield United, who drew 2-2 at Coventry earlier on Saturday, on goal difference.

Sunderland announced before the game that left-back Dennis Cirkin had had surgery during the international break after breaking his wrist against QPR, as they welcomed back first-choice goalkeeper Patterson after a four-game absence.

And it was the visitors who made the perfect start to the match in front of their 3,000 travelling fans, with Republic of Ireland international Connolly firing a crisp volley past Millwall keeper Lukas Jensen for his first goal for the club.

The game was halted shortly before half-time as Millwall's Ryan Leonard waved for the medical staff when he spotted a situation in the crowd, with two fans from separate areas of the stadium receiving medical help.

Lions boss Neil Harris sent on Tom Bradshaw at half-time to partner Josh Coburn up front for the hosts.

Japhet Tanganga and Bradshaw both went close with headers before Coburn and Casper De Norre forced strong saves from Patterson as Millwall pushed for an equaliser.

Millwall ended the game with five attackers on the pitch and fully deserved their point as Azeez came off the bench to equalise with minutes of added time remaining.

Millwall boss Neil Harris speaking to BBC Radio London:

"It’s 41 minutes [when the players came off] and that's almost a half-time team talk, but you don't know how long you’re going to be in there for.

"I had my say after 41 minutes, I was very composed because we knew we were going back out for five minutes – and then at half-time I let them have it properly, because that's what it deserved."

On Millwall’s substitutions: "Sometimes just [throwing] caution to wind. When you're behind sometimes you can do that.

"We were trying to get five players against their back four, trying to overload the midfield area and you just hope that you get a moment of quality and we had that."

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris speaking to BBC Radio Newcastle:

"I liked the first half with such a young team in such a tough place to play. We did well and we could have scored more because we had many situations to exploit.

"During the second half, [it] was more difficult because they used their direct play. We struggled with the second ball to escape the pressure.

"The scenario is difficult to digest but in the second half they deserved to score at least one goal, so it's not a big surprise [that they equalised] - but over the game I think we deserved the point and probably, with that scenario, we could have won."