Jack Rodwell had to contend with a life on the sidelines while at Manchester City but he has been happy to resume centre stage at Sunderland.
The midfielder, who won the most recent of his three England caps against Brazil in the Maracana last year, marked his home debut for the Black Cats with a goal in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the Stadium of Light.
Juan Mata had put United ahead after 17 minutes in Wayne Rooney's first match as permanent captain.
“It is good to games under my belt and get fitter and better”
Jack Rodwell
But Rodwell, 23, pulled away from his marker Antonio Valencia to power home his header from a Sebastian Larsson corner and equalise for Gus Poyet's side.
Rodwell told Sky Sports: "The manager has allowed me to get into the box this time and I’ve managed to score a good header on my home debut.
“It’s brilliant for me. Last season, I didn’t play as much as I wanted to. I started last week and I started today, it is good to games under my belt and get fitter and better.”
Eric Dier continues to justify his summer move from Sporting Lisbon to Tottenham Hotspur, scoring his second goal in as many games in the 4-0 thumping of Queens Park Rangers.
After netting the game's only goal on debut at West Ham United last week, England Under-21s utility man Dier moved from centre-back to right-back at White Hart Lane and excelled himself once again, flicking home Spurs's second.
Eric Dier races for the ball with Armand Traore
The win sends Tottenham top of the league – with two clean sheets in two games – while Dier sits joint top of the goalscoring charts.
Dier said: "We've done a lot of work on the training ground and it shows with the clean sheets.
"For me personally it's nice to score another one at the other end as well."
In the day's other Premier League game Ryan Shawcross scored a late equaliser in Stoke City's 1-1 draw at Hull City.
