Bent endured a frustrating clash against the club he left acrimoniously in the summer, with Gomes saving the spot-kick that would have given Steve Bruce's men the equaliser they deserved after more than matching Spurs.

Sunderland felt Gomes was the last man and should have been dismissed, while the Brazil goalkeeper insisted Bent was already going down before ensuring his leg connected with his opponent.

"I didn't think I would get sent off because I didn't think it was a penalty," Gomes said. "When I saw the ball was going out I pulled my arm back.

"It's a difficult situation but it is his (Bent's) job. The referee needs to know these things, that when a striker comes to the 18-yard box they try to dive for a penalty. They have to know.

"I don't accept something like that but you have to keep going when the referee gives a penalty, you have to try to save it."

Sunderland boss Bruce backed his striker by suggesting he was taking evasive action as Gomes hurtled towards him - and his anger at referee Kevin Friend for keeping the goalkeeper on the pitch was compounded by Bent's penalty being saved.

"This was the same against Man United last season when I got the ball," Gomes said. "This time I didn't get the ball but it was not a penalty either. Maybe when he dived he changed the game.

"I spoke to Darren afterwards. We didn't speak about the penalty, just about the save. He is a great striker but it's my job to save."

Gomes produced a string of saves, including the penalty, to deny Sunderland almost single-handedly, a contrast to his form a year ago when he was guilty of a series of blunders.

His lack of confidence back then was attributed to injuries he was carrying but the 28-year-old has been in fine form this season and has pleased boss Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp was linked with Portsmouth and England goalkeeper David James on the last transfer-deadline day, but Gomes said: "The manager spoke for everyone after the Portsmouth game recently. He told me afterwards 'you're in great form and have to keep going'."

Gomes had to be at his best against Sunderland to keep Spurs ahead after Robbie Keane had opened the scoring, with Tom Huddlestone adding the second after Bent's miss to send Redknapp's men back into the Barclays Premier League top four.

Sunderland midfielder Andy Reid, a former Spurs player, felt referee Friend got the big decision wrong by issuing a yellow card to Gomes.

"We were hard done by," he said. "There won't be too many teams who come here and play better football than we did against them.

"The keeper saved a penalty when perhaps he shouldn't even have been on the pitch. I don't want to get people sent off but those are the laws of the game. I thought the referee got that wrong.

"Players can accept the minor decisions going wrong but it's the big ones which affect the outcomes of games that the players want to see the referee get right.

"But we have to take heart from the performance. Not too many teams play the kind of football we did."

Reid insists Bent will be back to his best against Arsenal after the international break.

"Darren Bent will be just the same as he is for the next game," he said. "He will be desperate to put things right, anyone can miss a penalty so there's no blame attached."

Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, meanwhile, suffered a fractured arm during the defeat and faces a spell on the sidelines.