Bournemouth’s, and Marco Rose’s, wait for a Premier League win is over. Sunderland, locked in the bottom three, are becoming this season’s object lesson in travelling too far, too fast.
Once Kevin Danso was dismissed in the 17th minute for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, Sunderland were sunk. If Evanilson was the match-winner with a goal, an assist and as the player Danso fouled, Régis Le Bris’s team were architects of their own downfall. “A bad day, a bad start,” the Sunderland manager said. Sixth and seventh last season, both teams have struggled domestically while cruising in the Europa League but Sunderland’s troubles deepened.
There was mitigation on offer. With a tight turnaround from Leiria on Thursday, England’s south coast on Sunday and Poznan in midweek, Wearside resources are stretched and their European dream comes against uncomfortable domestic realities. Talk of a possible sale continues, a boardroom reshuffle placing Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, the youthful majority owner, in charge of day‑to‑day operations. On the pitch, Sunderland have not had a league win since August, and lost four in succession.
Both teams had made five changes from Thursday and Bournemouth, who had beaten Sturm Graz at home, were visibly fresher. “Fatigue for me is not an issue,” Le Bris said. “We just have to get used to it.”
Granit Xhaka’s early stumble prefaced a jet-lagged, error-strewn performance that followed Sunderland’s first European away game since 1973. After Lewis Cook dabbed the ball forward, Evanilson seized on a collective muddle between Danso and Omar Alderete. The Brazilian’s reputation for unselfishness was deepened by his next choice of action. Instead of shooting, he laid up a diving Marcus Tavernier to head home. “I was waiting for him to shoot but he can see more than you and me,” Rose said.
“Exactly the situation we wanted to avoid,” Le Bris said, and Danso’s exit swiftly made things worse. Evanilson again escaped beyond a dallying defender exposed by Alderete ducking away from the ball. Clumsiness served as no defence. Craig Pawson, the referee, could reach no decision other than sending the Austrian for an early sachet of shower gel.
Being a goal and a man up represented a challenge to Bournemouth; they had previously conceded nine points from winning positions. First‑half chances piled up, Robin Roefs repeatedly asked to bail out bungling defenders. “If you have one player more you have to use the momentum,” Rose said.
With pressure piling on, the season lurching, Le Bris can only fight with the players available. Brian Brobbey, on the bench in Portugal following injury on international duty, was missing altogether from the matchday squad. “We decided not to rush the process,” Le Bris said. Timur Tutierov, loaned last season to Exeter, chased autumnal shadows before a merciful substitution on 59 minutes.
On the sidelines Rose, who revealed last week that he had binge‑watched Sunderland ’Til I Die on Netflix, kicked every ball. His need for three points was implicit. With the Vitality Stadium modernising fast, fans sitting in new-build corner stands, relegation battles cannot be countenanced. The second goal was accompanied by a collective sigh of relief, arriving via more Sunderland benevolence. Evanilson, assisted by Alderete’s brain-fog backpass, supplied a hip swivel of which Rudolf Nureyev might have been proud, sitting Roefs down to slot into an empty net. “I am happy that he rewarded himself with a goal,” Rose said of his No 9. “He is always working hard for the team.”
Bournemouth signed off with 29 shots. If thoughts understandably drifted to Thursday and Milan, seven-time European champions, coming to Dorset, Rose would not allow his players to be distracted. Though Sunderland enjoyed a late, brief spell of pressure, Bournemouth calmly collected a win that capped a historic week in club history. “It felt very clear, after [the 5-1 defeat on Friday against] Chelsea we were waiting for this game,” Rose said. “I am settling in well, I love the region. It’s a pleasure to work here. Everyone here stays patient and I really appreciate it.”
For Le Bris, any European success will only be a sticking plaster. “It’s hard to fix without a specific pattern,” he said, lamenting many mistakes. “It wasn’t the best version of Sunderland.”
Two clubs facing similar challenges appear on different trajectories.
