Bournemouth 1-1 Sunderland: European hopefuls share points on the south coast | OneFootball

Evanilson denied Sunderland a rare away victory in Bournemouth’s 1-1 draw against Régis Le Bris’ side at the Vitality Stadium with both sides still in the hunt for European football next season.

Eliezer Mayenda opened the scoring after 18 minutes before the Brazilian hauled the hosts level, bagging his sixth goal of the season partway through the second-half.

The result sees the Cherries go within eight points of the Europa League place in eighth while the Black Cats remain in the bottom half of the table on 37 points with 10 league games remaining.

As It Happened

Sunderland earned themselves the first chance of the game as Noah Sadiki forced a strong save from Djordje Petrovic in the opening minutes. After 11 minutes, Bournemouth had a chance of their own but Eli Junior Kroupi dragged his shot wide from inside the area.

Mayenda gave Sunderland the lead inside 20 minutes after he tapped into an empty net for his first goal since opening weekend against West Ham United, sending the Sunderland fans into raptures. Bournemouth almost drew themselves level ten minutes later but Robin Roefs was on hand twice to deny The Cherries an equaliser through Alex Scott.

The first yellow card of the game came on the half hour mark as Sadiki was booked for delaying the restart after Bournemouth won a free-kick in a dangerous area. Tavernier struck the set-piece well, but Roefs once again denied an equaliser.

Whilst two minutes of additional time were announced at the end of the first-half, Bournemouth won themselves a corner which was well dealt with by the Sunderland defence as they held their lead into the break. The Cherries made a change at half-time that saw Brooks withdrawn for Evanilson.

Sunderland flew out of the traps in the second-half as Habib Diarra looked to double their advantage but he was denied by Petrovic who made his third save of the day.

A break in play came on the hour mark, whilst Xhaka received treatment following a reckless challenge from Tyler Adams that saw the American pick up a yellow card. Bournemouth then made their second change of the game with Ryan Christie replacing Adams.

The Cherries found their equaliser in the 63rd minute as Evanilson headed home off the back of a lovely cross from Tavernier which evaded Roefs and brought the hosts back to level terms.

A quick VAR check followed to ensure the Brazilian hadn’t used his hand, which he had not so the goal stood.

Sunderland made their first change as Talbi’s afternoon was brought to an end and Bertrand Traoré was introduced. Alex Scott took on a long range effort with little less than 20 minutes remaining, but the former Bristol City midfielder couldn’t find the target. Moments later, Roefs was booked for time wasting.

Xhaka was withdrawn in favour of Angulo for the final 15 minutes, bringing the Swiss’ midfielder’s first start since January 17th to a close. Daniel Ballard nearly gave Sunderland the lead again from a corner but his header flew wide of the post. Bournemouth then made a double change that saw Enes Ünal and Adli replace Krupi and Tavernier.

Sunderland appeared to have regained the lead in the 82nd minute, but the goal was ruled out after Geertruida was judged to be in an offside position.

Evanilson was withdrawn shortly after due to injury, a rare occasion of the substitute being submitted back off. He was replaced by Hungarian midfielder Alex Toth, who almost instantly received a yellow card for a foul in his own half.

As both sides searched for what would surely be a decisive goal, there was a goalmouth scramble in the Sunderland area but Ünal’s shot was eventually blocked and cleared.

Cherries manager Andoni Iraola was booked on the touchline, as was Christie in the middle of the park with eight minutes of added time being announced for both sides to try and find a late winner.

Bournemouth whipped in a corner which was cleared away by Ballard, however play was stopped almost straight away due to Marco Senesi going down with a head injury after colliding with Roefs.

Scott saw yellow in the 94th minute after he pulled down Mayenda to halt a Sunderland counter-attack.

Mayenda’s afternoon came to an end shortly after with Wilson Isidor introduced for the final stages of the game, as Bournemouth looked to create themselves one more opening but youthful Brazilian winger, Rayan, couldn’t find the target with his shot.

The Cherries won themselves a 102nd minute corner but couldn’t make the opportunity count, bringing an interesting clash to a close on the South Coast.