Sunderland 1-1 Bournemouth
- Published
Including own goals forced by his shots, Patrick van Aanholt has found the net in his last four league games
Patrick van Aanholt scored for the second game in a row as Sunderland came from behind to draw against relegation rivals Bournemouth.
The Cherries dominated the opening half-hour and took the lead through Benik Afobe's diving header.
But Sunderland hit back through Van Aanholt, who collected Fabio Borini's through ball and rifled past Artur Boruc.
Lewis Grabban had a great chance to win it for Bournemouth but fired wide.
Long way to go for Sunderland - Allardyce
The striker was played in by Matt Ritchie but misfired from five yards, while for the hosts, Billy Jones had earlier put a free header at Boruc when perfectly placed.
Bournemouth stay 15th, while Sunderland remain 19th, three points from safety.
Same old story for Bournemouth
In many ways this was a performance that typified Bournemouth's maiden Premier League campaign; starting brightly, full of quality and composure on the ball, but ultimately losing control of the match.
The Cherries have scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes of games than any other side in the Premier League and once again they took an early lead.
Junior Stanislas sent in a teasing early cross from the right wing and Benik Afobe - a £10m January signing from Wolves - connected with a diving header to score for the second game running.
Following that breakthrough, the visitors pressed Sunderland relentlessly, to a soundtrack of audible boos from the home fans, but could not find a second goal.
Stanislas fired over from Marc Pugh's cross with the goal gaping, while Afobe forced a good save from Mannone after Stanislas chested the ball down to him.
But Eddie Howe's side once again proved unable to close a game out as their increased their tally of points dropped from winning positions to 14 - another league high.
Van Aanholt fires again
Van Aanholt's influence was crucial as a large majority of Sunderland's attacks came down the left side
Having dominated the first half, Bournemouth suffered a sucker punch in stoppage time as Borini's clever pass split centre-back and full-back and found the rampaging Van Aanholt, who finished confidently.
The left-back has been in superb form, having scored against Tottenham last week and also found the net in the two previous matches - though both those strikes were subsequently credited as own goals.
Despite those reversals, Van Aanholt has now been directly involved in five goals this season - more than any other defender - with three goals and two assists.
Here, his strike completely reversed the momentum of the match, as Sunderland took control of the second half and created several opportunities.
It was Van Aanholt's fellow full-back Jones who had the clearest chance to give the hosts a priceless victory, but he could not beat Boruc from five yards when picked out perfectly by Adam Johnson's cross.
Man of the match - Patrick van Aanholt
The Dutchman was at his marauding best, with the majority of his 70 touches coming in the opposition half
What they said
Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce: "After their goal went in, there were 20 minutes where we hung on, but we stopped them scoring, which we haven't done recently. We've gained a result from going a goal behind, and that shows a bit of character from the players. They overcame their fears and came back strongly.
"It's a precious point. We've showed a lot of nerve to come through our bad spell and if we continue like that we're going to be fine."
Bournemouth going in right direction - Howe
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "We dominated the early stages, we were in total control. Today was a real number nine's goal from Benik Afobe and he was a real handful.
"We just lost our grip. We craved the second goal, we were so on top, and the second goal eluded us.
"The pleasing thing is the resilience we showed in the second half. There are positives to take - we've only lost two games in 11 now. But today we were the dominant team and that's the disappointment."
The stats you need to know
Sunderland have conceded the most goals in the opening 15 minutes of games this season (eight) while Bournemouth have scored the most (nine).
Only Sergio Aguero (36) and Daryl Murphy (35) have more league goals in the top four tiers since the start of the 2014/15 season than Benik Afobe (34).
Van Aanholt is the first Sunderland defender to score in back to back Premier League games.
What's next?
Sunderland host Manchester City on Tuesday, while Bournemouth visit Crystal Palace.