Sunderland and Bournemouth played out a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Recent Cherries signing Benik Afobe grabbed his second goal in as many games with a powerful diving header to meet Junior Stanislas' early cross in the 13th minute.
The Cherries were close to doubling their lead when Afobe turned in the area on 25 minutes but he shot at Vito Mannone when he could have cut it back for a free Stanislas in the area.
That decision proved costly as the Black Cats levelled on the stroke of half-time when Fabio Borini found Patrick van Aanholt marauding into the area and the left-back fired a low, hard effort beyond Artur Boruc for his second goal on the trot.
Billy Jones could have won it for Sunderland but saw his header kept out by Boric before Lewis Grabban had a great chance to give the visitors the win in the 83rd minute but dragged his one-on-one effort wide under pressure from Mannone.
The draw kept Sam Allardyce's Sunderland second bottom on the table as Eddie Howe's Bournemouth stayed 16th where they sit four points above the relegation zone.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Sunderland: 1 (Patrick van Aanholt 45+1')
AFC Bournemouth: 1 (Benik Afobe 13')
Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 41,367
TALKING POINTS
- van Aanholt showing why Chelsea signed him as a teenager. Is he the most dangerous attacking full-back in the Premier League right now?
- Afobe has started brilliantly at Bournemouth. Can he be the next Vardy or Ighalo?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Sunderland host Manchester City on February 2 as Bournemouth look ahead to next weekend's FA Cup fourth round clash at Portsmouth prior to the league meeting with Crystal Palace next week.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Pleased to get my 1st away @premierleague goal. Would rather the 3points! My toe is fine just a sore bruise. #afcbpic.twitter.com/WCAKg3i3bM
— Benik Afobé (@Afobe_) January 23, 2016Disappointed not to get all 3 points but could be a valuable one. Safe trip to all the fans who travelled!!! #afcb
— charlie daniels (@chazdaniels13) January 23, 2016Great support at the @StadiumOfLight again yesterday! No game for ten days now – already can't wait to get back in action...
— Sam Allardyce (@OfficialBigSam) January 24, 2016.@VitoMannone88 believes #SAFC must build on a positive point against @afcbournemouth: https://t.co/ZYWf7DynbQpic.twitter.com/NSeZIU4IKh
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) January 23, 2016
QUOTES CORNER
Sunderland's Allardyce on his side's ability to stay in the contest and almost win it:
"The good thing from my point of view is that I have seen us go under at that stage so many times since I have been here, but we stayed in it and because we stayed in it, it allowed us to play our way back into the game, gladly.
"It was a fantastic time to score a goal and it lifted us and in the second half, anybody could have won it. It was end-to-end, either side could have won it."
Bournemouth boss Howe on potentially dropping two points:
"After the first half, absolutely, yes. From watching, I felt we were in total control and doing everything we hoped to do, passing the ball very well.
"The only disappointment really is we didn't create more chances in that spell and have the clinical aspect to our game where we go on and make it two or three, which I felt our dominance deserved."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
8 - Bournemouth have scored the most goals in the first 15 mins of PL games this season (8) & Sunderland have let in the most (9). Contrast.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 23, 2016