Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland: Ritchie rocket

Matt Stead

Matt Ritchie scored a sublime goal and Callum Wilson was on the scoresheet again as Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0 to leave the Black Cats bottom.

Cherries boss Eddie Howe uncharacteristically made five changes to the side which lost at Norwich last weekend but he was rewarded as his team were straight out of the traps.

Sunderland had hardly touched the ball before Wilson scored his fifth Premier League goal of the campaign and a stunner from Matt Ritchie put them out of sight of Sunderland, who had defender Younes Kaboul sent off in the second half after the France international had been given the run-around by Wilson.

The last time the Black Cats were on the south coast they capitulated in an 8-0 defeat at Southampton, but although they looked in danger of a repeat, Dick Advocaat’s side rallied and former Bournemouth loanee Jermain Defoe missed a golden chance before Jeremain Lens saw an effort wrongly disallowed for offside.

Howe, who played alongside Defoe during his stint with the Cherries, may have labelled the striker the best finisher he has ever seen but Wilson may soon give him a run for his money as the man whose goals saw Bournemouth reach the Premier League struck inside the opening four minutes.

Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon had blasted a clearance out of the modest Vitality Stadium but the hosts were quick to react and Simon Francis found Dan Gosling with the resulting throw-in, with the former Newcastle man sliding in Wilson, who held off Kaboul to fire home the opener.

If that goal was impressive, the second that followed five minutes later was spectacular.

Sunderland cleared a near-post corner but only as far as Ritchie, who controlled the ball on his chest and flashed a volley past Pantilimon before the former Manchester City man could move.

Howe said ahead of the game that keeping Defoe quiet would make the difference for his side, but when the former Tottenham man was slipped through on goal he could not reduce the arrears as Artur Boruc kept out his low shot.

Advocaat introduced Jack Rodwell at half-time and the midfielder saw an effort deflect behind for a corner from which Lens scored a diving header, only to see the assistant referee wrongly flag for offside.

The visitors had their tails up and Fabio Borini arrowed a long-range strike inches over Boruc’s goal as they looked to get a foothold on the game.

Steven Fletcher was the next man to be thrown on by Advocaat, this time with Defoe the man replaced after an unhappy return to his former club, but any hopes of a comeback were ruined with 15 minutes remaining as Kaboul picked up a second booking of the afternoon for a mistimed challenge on Wilson.

Marc Pugh almost added a third for the Cherries but his shot into the turf bounced on to Pantilimon’s crossbar and was cleared.

However, the result had long-been decided as Bournemouth won their second game of the season and left Sunderland propping up the table.