Sunderland have picked up their first win of the season at the 11th time of asking courtesy of a come-from-behind victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium this afternoon.
The Black Cats were forced to play more than half an hour with just 10 men after Steven Pienaar was sent off, but goals from Victor Anichebe and Jermain Defoe cancelled out Dan Gosling's early opener to hand David Moyes his first league win in charge of the club.
Sunderland's two points from 10 matches prior to today equalled the worst ever start to a Premier League season, and it looked like being another miserable afternoon for Moyes's men when they fell behind after just 11 minutes.
Adam Smith latched on to the returning Junior Stanislas's through-ball down the right channel before delivering a cross into the box that Gosling - in for the injured Andrew Surman - turned home.
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Stanislas, who had not featured for the Cherries since grabbing two goals and an assist during the 6-1 thrashing of Hull City last month, almost got straight back to scoring ways himself shortly afterwards, but his effort from the edge of the box flew narrowly wide.
Sunderland's first real opening of the match arrived after 26 minutes when Duncan Watmore found space to shoot, but Artur Boruc was equal to the powerful effort.
Bournemouth responded with a chance of their own moments later as Joshua King tried his luck, but once again the keeper was in the way as Jordan Pickford kept out the strike.
The Black Cats went into the match without a goal from open play since October 1, but they finally ended the barren spell shortly after the half-hour mark when Anichebe collected a pass from Defoe inside the area before holding off his man and smashing a high finish into the roof of the net from a tight angle for his first Premier League goal since May 2015.
Buoyed by the equaliser, Sunderland threatened to complete the turnaround before half time when Watmore latched on to a through-ball, but once again Boruc stood in his way.
Watmore did finally find a way past the Bournemouth keeper in first-half stoppage time, but this time he was denied by the linesman's flag and his goal was disallowed for offside.
The visitors continued to threaten despite their lowly league position, and Didier Ndong was the next to come close after the interval when he forced Boruc into another save.
However, Sunderland's hopes of ending their dreadful start to the season suffered a major blow shortly before the hour mark when Pienaar was shown a second yellow card for a high challenge, earning his fourth sending-off of his Premier League career, all of which have come under Moyes.
Bournemouth immediately looked to press home their newfound numerical advantage, and Stanislas was inches away from doing so when he fired an effort against the post just three minutes later, before Jack Wilshere also failed to make the most of a promising position.
However, it was Sunderland who got the game's decisive third goal as Watmore's pass sent Anichebe through on goal before Smith slid in and brought down the goalscorer. Mike Dean had no choice but to point to the spot, and Defoe made no mistake against his former club by placing his penalty into the top corner.
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Benik Afobe almost responded with an equaliser just two minutes later, but he fired just wide of the target before sending another chance over the crossbar 10 minutes later.
Sunderland needed Pickford to come to their rescue with just two minutes of normal time remaining too as he denied King, allowing the visitors to hold out for a much-needed victory that takes them level on points with 19th-placed Swansea City in the Premier League table.
The victory was the first that Moyes has achieved in the Premier League for 945 days and is also Sunderland's first league win on the road since April.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, drop down to 12th courtesy of their first home loss since the opening day of the season.
Barney Corkhill
