West Ham United stayed in the top four of the Premier League after battling to a 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
The Hammers fell behind when winger Adam Johnson went down under a challenge from James Tomkins, with Dowd seeing sufficient reason to award a spot-kick in the hosts' favour.
Former Wigan Athletic playmaker Jordi Gomez stepped up to stroke the penalty beyond Adrian but it took the Hammers just seven minutes to draw level at the Stadium of Light.
The in-form Stewart Downing grabbed the equaliser for the Hammers, driving low beyond Costel Pantilimon via the aid of a deflection to claim his third goal of the season.
Goal-shy Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore missed a glorious opportunity to put Sunderland back in front when he failed to connect with a cross, whilst Hammers defender Aaron Cresswell missed a one-on-one for the visitors.
West Ham were indebted to goalkeeper Adrian at the death, with the Spaniard displaying strong palms to push over a stinging effort from Connor Wickham. Andy Carroll also came close late on, firing wide with three minutes remaining.
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