Bournemouth 1-2 Sunderland: Last gasp as Jermain Defoe puts in penalty to give the Black Cats a vital first Premier League win of the season

Out of the deepest darkness comes some form of light, at last, for Sunderland.

David Moyes has spent most of his post-match evenings this season sat alone at home with the lights dimmed and little to take solace from in his team’s performances. It is a depressing scene.

This, though, was a first victory for a side finally showing the kind of fight they have long-lacked. Their manager was banned from the touchline; they were down to 10 men and under the cosh but Sunderland pulled through: They finally have a Premier League win.

I’d nearly forgotten what it felt like to smile,’ Moyes quipped afterwards.

Having sat in the stands as he served a touchline ban, last night the darkness would be replaced by fireworks.

Sunderland were second-best to Bournemouth for long periods at the Vitaly Stadium but after going behind through Dan Gosling and seeing Steven Pienaar get sent off they somehow emerged with all three points.

Victor Anichebe was the hero, netting the equaliser and earning Jermain Defoe’s winning penalty despite playing with a cracked rib suffered on his first Sunderland start here.

‘We did this for the manager, over he last few weeks we have not done him justice,’ the Nigerian striker said. ‘For all the work the manager has done, this one was for him.’

While Anichebe got a first taste of victory on his first Sunderland start, the wait goes on for unlucky mascot Jack Rodwell.

The midfielder has started 33 games for the club since joining two years ago. A hamstring injury ruled him out of this one. Tough luck.

Partly because of Rodwell’s enforce absence, Moyes switched to playing a pairing in attack in a bid to improve on his team’s dire fortunes but even he admits this is a game he thought could go the wrong way for Sunderland once again given the way they started.

Bournemouth were dominant and took a deserved lead after 10 minutes having already fired an early warning when Harry Arter tested Jordan Pickford from distance.

The visitors should have woken up with that — they didn’t. Bournemouth built another attack down the left and as they switched sides through Jack Wilshere, Sunderland switched off.

Junior Stanislas picked up the ball in the centre of midfield, swivelled and sprung a pass to put Adam Smith in behind on the right. Smith’s cross found Gosling’s chest a yard out from goal and he gave his side a deserved lead.

Moyes slumped in his seat in the stands, with his new vantage point providing an improved view of events he would probably rather avoid watching.

Bournemouth pushed on. Wilshere in particular was a pest; passing move after passing move went through his feet and Papy Djilobodji looked baffled. Joshua King should have made it 2-0 when Stanislas sent him zipping past the former Chelsea centre back but instead sent his shot straight at Pickford.

The Sunderland support — well-used to this sort of thing by now — sung on regardless and on 34 minutes, somehow, their backing was rewarded out of nothing.

Defoe rolled the ball into Anichebe’s feet inside the area with his back to goal but little looked on. The natural reaction would have been to look backwards for a way out.

The former Everton and West Bromwich Albion striker had other ideas: he took the pass, shrugged Simon Francis to the ground with incredible upper body strength and turned before battering his unstoppable shot past Artur Boruc and into the top corner.

From there, Sunderland grew into the game until Pienaar’s moment of madness just before the hour.

The midfielder had been booked for bringing down Wilshere late in the first half and an awful, above-the-ankle challenge on Stanislas earned him a second yellow and subsequent red.

With that flashpoint, the pendulum of momentum swung back Bournemouth’s way. Defoe was temporarily withdrawn to a right wing back role to stem the tide and Sunderland looked all at sea.

The confusion should have cost them when Gosling put Stanislas through but his left-foot finish came back off the foot of the right-hand post and back out.

Bournemouth were peppering Pickford’s goal: Arter headed wide, Wilshere was denied by Djilobodji and Stanislas air-kicked with the goal at his mercy unmarked at the back post.

Suddenly though, back came Sunderland. They made a rare advance forward, bravely still playing with two strikers on the pitch, and the fantastically creative Watmore put in Anichebe before Smith’s poorly-timed tackle swept him to the deck. Mike Dean had no doubts in awarding the penalty.

Defoe, Sunderland’s man for the big moment, stood up and confidently sent Boruc the wrong way with an excellent spot-kick into the top right-hand corner.

More Bournemouth chances followed, with Benik Afobe the chief culprit in missing a gilt-edged opportunity, but Sunderland — somehow — held out with Pickford outstanding and even much-maligned Djilobodji looking a force at the back.

Bournemouth failed to add to their opener despite having 22 shots and 70 per cent of possession. ‘It’s unlike us,’ Eddie Howe said of the missed chances. ‘We had a spell of 15 minutes where we battered their goal really and they couldn’t get out of their half. We needed the killer touch to go on and win the game but we left the back door open.’

‘We were a wee bit in disarray,’ Moyes admitted. ‘But we kept players up the pitch, we were brave enough to do that and sometimes this is the way it is.’