Pickford puts a free-kick deep down field towards the Bournemouth box - but no-one can conenct and it's a goalkick for the visitors. At points, it has been a heroic last stand for Sunderland - but it will be all for nothing. Hull have drawn 0-0 with Southampton too - it is all over for the Black Cats.
90'
M. Gradel enters the game and replaces R. Fraser.
Substitution Ryan Fraser Max-Alain Gradel
A sucker-punch for the Black Cats as Gradel comes on with three minutes of added time for Bournemouth.
88'
J. King has scored a goal for AFC Bournemouth! Assist by R. Fraser.
Sunderland play it around their midfield as they look to edge past Bournemouth but the Cherries frustrate them one more.
Assist Ryan Fraser
Goal Joshua King
KING SCORES! Fraser ghosts into the box, puts a flat pass across to Josh King and the Bournemouth man plants it past Pickford. Heartbreak for Sunderland, devestation for David Moyes. As it stands, Sunderland are going down.
86'
Sunderland earn a corner on their right side. It doesn't break the way they want, but Boruc is forced to put a great save before Defoe is called ofside.
84'
Khazri goes down at the other end now too - but he also is not rewarded with a spot-kick.
83'
In the midst of the action, Pugh - a standout for the Cherries - is subbed for Mousset. King goes down in the Sunderland box as he advances on goal - but doesn't get the penalty.
82'
L. Mousset enters the game and replaces M. Pugh.
Substitution Marc Pugh Lys Mousset
80'
Khari now gets pulled for offside too - clearly as well. He pleads innocence but the decision is correct.
79'
Smith puts it short to Fraser but Honeyman is quick to sweep in anc clear up. Arter recovers in midfield but Sunderland scramble to keep it away from their box.
78'
W. Khazri gets yellow.
Yellow card Wahbi Khazri
Both teams are fired up by their physical exchange - and Ndong concedes a corner despite a superb tackle. Khazri is then booked for stopping Smith from taking it too.
Minute
Description
76'
F. Borini gets yellow.
H. Arter gets yellow.
Yellow card Harry Arter
Yellow card Fabio Borini
75'
Borini puts Lewis Cook to the ground in a tackle that doesn't seem too bad - but scuffles break out immediately as players from both sides come to blows. Borini is booked for the challenge, which he accepts - whilst Arter is show yellow for flying in to remonstrate somewhat violently.
73'
Sunderland get a free-kick just into the Bournemouth half that the Cherries are unhappy with. Khazri finds O'Shea, but they can't make anything of it and Anichebe - who has been very quiet this afternoon - gets a word from the ref.
70'
I's a similar story to the first half this - Bournemouth starting the brighter of the two before Sunderland find a foothold and create more chances. But can either break the deadlock?
68'
Khazri swings it in, but Boruc in goal is fouled by Borini and Bournemouth get a free-kick in their own box.
67'
HONEYMAN GOES CLOSE! A Defoe break finds Borini on the left of the box, who pops a return-pass to the youngster. He chooses to go himself rather than playing across to Defoe - and his shot earns a corner too.
65'
Honeyman begins a counter-attack for Sunderland and feeds Borini, looking for Khazri or Defoe - but a miscommunication sees them let it slip out for a throw to Bournemouth. Groans around the Stadium of Light.
64'
Pugh earns a throw on the left side for Bournemouth but the visitors are harried back into their own half by some flailing Black Cats defence.
62'
Smith elects to pull the ball back to Cook outside the Sunderland box after a clutch of players pull up there - and then Stanislas can't supply the ball through to King. Bournemouth wasteful there.
60'
Honeyman and O'Shea combine to force Bournemouth back towards their own line - but Steven Cook, an ever-present for the Cherries this year, takes command in midfield to halt the advance.
58'
Afobe indeed departs, with Stanislas the man to replace him. It appears to be a hamstring knock - his season may be over.
57'
J. Stanislas enters the game and replaces B. Afobe.
Substitution Benik Afobe Junior Stanislas
56'
Afobe goes down again, and play is stopped for him to recieve medical treatment again. Meanwhile, Pienaar is replaced by Honeyman for Sunderland.
55'
G. Honeyman enters the game and replaces S. Pienaar.
Substitution Steven Pienaar George Honeyman
54'
Fraser curls it beautifully into the box but Steve Cook, rising to meet it, can't steer it towards Pickford and goal.
53'
Frantic defence at the rear for Sunderland as Pienaar cleaves away a shot from Fraser before Bournemouth earn a free kick on the right edge.
51'
CLOSE FOR BORINI! He lets loose with a superb shot on the right edge of the penalty box after being fed by Defoe, but Boruc manages to keep it away. Down the other end, Fraser puts a shot on Pickford but it is weak and dealt with easily.
49'
Arter has his pocket picked by Ndong, who makes a break down the right to pop it towards Khazri, only for the Cherries to counter-attack through Fraser. Fast-paced, end-to-end stuff all of a sudden at the Stadium of Light,
47'
Pienaar is booked after clipping down Smith in midfield.
46'
S. Pienaar gets yellow.
KICK-OFF: And we're underway again, as Bournemouth come out of the gates all guns blazing, with a King cross to Pugh heading straight into Pickford's jaws.
Yellow card Steven Pienaar
45' +2
Pienaar puts a looping cross into the box from the left for Defoe but Daniels is able to put himself in the right place to defuse it. Bournemouth hold off the Black Cats again.
45'
Two minutes of added time here at the Stadium of Light. Elsewhere, Hull remain goalless in their match at Southampton - if results there and on Wearside stood, Sunderland would remain up today.
44'
King appears to be offside but is not called as such and feeds Afobe with a square pass. The Bournemouth man is denied by O'Shea though and Sunderland firm up.
42'
Khazri gets a touch too far ahead of the defence for Pienaar's pass and is caught offside for the Black Cats on the left.
40'
Afobe and King both put rocket shots on Pickford, but the young Sunderland keeper is able to deny both with some impressive acrobatics and the help of Love.
39'
Pienaar feeds Borini across to centre field, who tucks it down right to Defoe - who puts another shot away, only to hit the wrong side of the net.
37'
One thing to be said about this game - as Smith is caught offside - is that neither are high on quality today. Bournemouth dominated the opening quarter but both sides are not playing like teams determined to avoid the drop.
35'
Defoe again tries to get an effort away but it is weak and Bournemouth deal with it easily.
33'
L. Cook gets yellow.
Yellow card Lewis Cook
Lewis Cook gets a yellow for clipping Borini - and Sunderland get a free-kick with the Bournemouth goal in sight.
32'
Smith lets loose with a long-range shot along the pitch from thirty-five yards out to the right but Pickford is quick to drop on the ball and stop proceedings.
30'
Sunderland are starting to look more settled, half-an-hour into the game. Several good chances - though wasted - have given them confidence going forward, whilst Bournemouth have dropped off in terms of energy for the moment. Still a long way from the end here though.
28'
Arter puts a good tackle on Pienaar but Khazri manages to take posession and sparks a frantic half-minute around the Bounremouth penalty area that ends with Defoe heading straight to Boruc instead.
26'
Now play stops again as Afobe gets treatment for Bournemouth
24'
Defoe tucks a shot away from the left flank but it runs wide - very wide - to the right of goal. A wasteful shot - but Sunderland have to take all the chances they can get.
22'
King feeds Pugh on the edge of the box whiere Ndong deflects. Meanwhile, Borini is down after a tackle from Arter and Pickford pumps the ball out to stop play whilst he gets treatment.
20'
LUCKY BREAK FOR THE BLACK CATS! Josh King, for Bournemouth, strikes at the narrowest of angles on the left side, and gets a double ricochet off the bar and the right post before Pickford recovers. What a shot.
19'
Khazri whips down the left flank against the run of play, and clips a back-pass to Defoe on the edge of the box. The England man should at least put his shot on target - but skies it over the bar instead.
17'
Bournemouth are dominating proceedings here. David Moyes spoke of not going down without a fight pre-game - but Sunderland look at the risk of crumbling entirely twenty minutes in. Still 0-0 though.
15'
King, Fraser and Smith create a dance with the ball around Sunderland's left flank - but they are unable to make the pressure tell and are forced into a throw-in. The visitors currently have 66% of the ball too - a worrying figure for the Black Cats.
13'
Daniels makes mincemeat of Sunderland's back four as he dribbles the ball around them in the box trying to get a shot away. Ultimately Pickford drops on the ball but O'Shea is left red-faced by the Bournemouth man.
12'
King finds himself in the space on the edge of the Sunderland penality area, but goes down in the act of placing his shot. Pickford collects with ease and the Bournemouth man regains his feet wiith no complaint.
10'
Lewis Cook wins a throw for the visitors, but Afobe loses it. Sunderland snake down the field on the right - and Borini launches a beast of a right-footer that takes everyone by surprise. Boruc gets fingers to it and Defoe can't follow up - but the Black Cats suddenly have some bite.
8'
Fraser, on the back of a corner, pops it high into the box to fox Love - but King can't rise high enough and the ball falls back to Khazri who hacks it to safety, Sunderland survive for the fourth time in eight minutes.
6'
Khazri's free-kick can't find a Sunderland man and Love is quick to begin a counter-attack into midfield, after he is released by Steve Cook. King takes posession and puts a shot away - but Pickford deals with the weak effort easily.
5'
Love earns a throw-in for the home side on their right flank and finds Borini but Daniels is quick to sweep in to defuse. It's a clumsy challenge though and Sunderland get the free-kick.
3'
Bournemouth are already leaning heavily on the Sunderland defence as Fraser earns another corner for the Cherries. The visitors can't make anything of it and Pienaar tucks it back into midfield.
1'
KICK-OFF: And we're underway on Wearside, as Bournemouth - in blue - pressure Sunderland into a corner immediately. Daniels takes it with a set-piece, playing off Fraser and back again, but he is unable to scramble it over the goal-line. Another nervy start for the Black Cats.
Good afternoon and welcome to the Premier League for what very well may be the final day of Sunderland’s current tenure in the top flight. The Black Cats have only claimed five of the last thirty points available – and now, time looks to be up for David Moyes as his men host Bournemouth at the Stadium of Light. Wearside has been braced for relegation for a long time – today, the spectre that lingers above looks set to descend. A victory and three points would give them a stay of execution – but any other result will as good as condemn them to life in the Championship.
David Moyes has endured a torrid time over the past ten months at Sunderland, his first job in England since his ill-fated succession of Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Unable to recapture the form with which he guided Everton to strong finishes over a decade ago, off-field incidents – such as telling a female BBC reporter she “might get a slap” last month – have taken their toll as much as on-field difficulties. Though he signed a four-year-deal last summer, he was noncommittal this week on his future at the club – and with relegation on his doorstep, the former LMA Manager of the Year may find himself looking for a new club once more.
The permutations for today then; victory for Sunderland will see them hold off relegation for the weekend, regardless of other results; however, a draw or a loss will prove fatal to their hopes, depending on the results of Hull and Swansea today. The Tigers, who take on Southampton, lie in 17th – and are twelve magic points away from the Black Cats, who have four games left after today. If Bournemouth triumph and Hull avoid defeat, it’s curtains for Moyes and his men. Even if results go their way today, victory for Swansea against Manchester United tomorrow would put the Welsh outfit onto thirty-four points; one too many for the home side.
Their opponents have once again proved to be somewhat of a surprise package in the 2016/17 season. Under Eddie Howe, AFC Bournemouth have again defied the odds of relegation to turn in a respectable season once more. They’ve dropped off the boil somewhat – only five points from the last fifteen – but they still pose a strong threat going forward, particularly against a Sunderland side low on quality and confidence. Technically, they are still in a relegation battle too – but at seven points above the drop zone, it’s looking increasingly likely that The Cherries will make it three seasons of top-flight action in a row.
Four changes for Sunderland then from the team that lost midweek at Middlesbrough: Denayer, Cattermole, Gibson and Jones all miss out through injury, with Kone, Love, Pienaar and Borini coming into the starting XI. For Bournemouth, only one change is required: Lewis Cook comes into the midfield in the place of the injured Dan Gosling. Teams are about to come out...
Both sides make their way onto the pitch and out of the tunnel - are Sunderland walking out into the Stadium of Light for the last time of their ten-year tenure in the top flight?
AFC BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-2): Boruc, Adam Smith, Francis, S Cook, Daniels, Fraser, Arter, L Cook, Pugh, King, Afobe.
Sunderland have only had two shots on target so far today - but thanks to some great work from Pickford and a freak ricochet off a King shot, they remain on level pegging with a better Bournemouth side. At half time, the score is 0-0.
The nine lives of Sunderland are over; the Black Cats have lost 0-1 to Bournemouth and their ten-year spell in the top flight is over. David Moyes' men will play in the Championship next year as fans drop their heads into their hands in the stands. Such a cruel way to end.
For the visitors, it is confirmation that they remain up - Bournemouth and Eddie Howe secure another season in the Premier League at the expense of their opponents. Josh King was the man who confirmed their survival - and sent Sunderland to the second tier. There are no feats of escape like those of years gone by. The Stadium of Light will be a Championship ground next year. For Eddie Howe, victory; for David Moyes, defeat. Full-time on Wearside, it's Sunderland 0-1 Bournemouth. Thank you for your company and have a good evening.
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