AFC Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland: result and report

Report

AFC Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0, and the scoreline still undersells how one-sided the match became. An early goal and an early red card set the course, while the home side's chances suggest the margin could easily have been wider.

Marcus Tavernier scored after five minutes, set up by Evanilson. The game then shifted further in the home side's favour on 17 minutes, when Kevin Danso was sent off. Sunderland had to play the rest of the match with ten men.

Evanilson then added the second three minutes after half-time, which left Sunderland needing two goals with a player fewer. Because of that, the second half was about how many AFC Bournemouth would score rather than whether they would win.

Chances against the scoreline

The clearest point is the gap in chance quality. AFC Bournemouth produced 3.25 xG to Sunderland's 0.08. They had 19 shots to six and six big chances to one. Sunderland did not register a shot on target.

Despite that, AFC Bournemouth missed four of their six big chances, and Sunderland's goalkeeper made four saves. So two goals was a modest return from that volume of good chances, though it was more than enough on the day.

Sunderland offered almost nothing going forward. They managed two key passes to AFC Bournemouth's 18, and the home side held far more sustained attacking pressure throughout.

That still needs context. Danso's dismissal came early, so most of this imbalance built up against ten men. The numbers say plenty about how AFC Bournemouth used the advantage. However, they say less about how the sides compare at full strength.