Black Cats don’t have a prayer
■ The agony of relegation is written all over Fabio Borini’s face after Sunderland’s home defeat by Bournemouth consigned the Black Cats to the Championship.
DAVID MOYES last night described Sunderland’ s relegation from the Premier League as, “My worst day in football.”
Then he declared his desire to stay in charge for next season.
The Black Cats went down with barely a whimper after being beaten by Joshua King’s late strike for Bournemouth.
The crowd immediately chorused: “We want Moyes out”, but while the Scot sought to defer any talk about his future, he did confirm that he wanted to be with them in the Championship.
“Sunderland will bounce back, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “I’d like to bounce back with them. It’s my worst day in football, but I’m thinking more about the people of this area. They’re the ones I feel for today.
“I’ll wait and gather my thoughts over the coming weeks. It’s easy to say that the plan is to get back as quickly as we can, but that’s for another day.
“But I’d like to make sure that we get Sunderland back in the Premier League. I hoped this day would never come around. I’m just sorry we weren’t able to do a better job.
“The supporters travel in their thousands and I know cash isn’t easy in this part of the country so I appreciate every penny they put into the club. This has been a frustrating chair for many managers, but today has been frustrating for me because we’ve not been able to keep the club up.”
There was solid support for Moyes from Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe.
“I have sympathy for Sunderland and the position they’re in,” he said.
“I thought their team gave everything and only lost the game because of their sheer will to win and we caught them on the break.
“David’s an outstanding manager and they’ll come back from this.”
Sunderland could have hung on another week if Southampton hadn’t missed a late penalty against Hull but the final outcome was always inevitable. The usual points total for Premier League safety is 40. The Black Cats have scarcely passed half that total. King’s winner was his 12th goal of 2017.
In that time the whole of the Sunderland team have scored nine.
No tears will be shed outside Wearside. There are few, if any, redeeming features about Moyes’ team. They’ve not won at home since before Christmas and have failed to score in nine of their last 10 League fixtures.
Even Jermain Defoe – their one hope of salvation – has now gone just short of 16 hours without a goal just when they desperately needed his signature skill.
Being expected to produce miracles seemed to weigh heavily on the veteran striker.
He missed one great first- half chance to give his team the lead and fired blanks the rest of the time.
They go down after 10 years in the top flight. It’s the fourth time they’ve taken the drop, a record they now jointly hold with Crystal Palace and Norwich City.
Defoe’s afternoon began badly when he screwed a shot wide in the tenth minute after Fabio Borini’s stinging shot had been beaten away by Artur Boruc. He also swept an effort from just inside the box a yard over the bar. The Black Cats were fortunate not to concede in the 20th minute when King clipped the ball over Jordan Pickford but somehow struck both the bar and the post.
Defoe missed his third and by far the easiest chance in the 28th minute when the flag stayed down as he chased Didier Ndong’s headed pass but he volleyed into Boruc’s hands.
Donald Love performed heroics at the other end with a vital double block, the first from Benik Afobe, the second on the line from King, to keep the interval score at 0-0.
Two more Defoe drives flew wide and words like barn door and banjo – never before associated with him – sprang to mind. Boruc made good stops from Borini and substitute George Honeyman.
Borini’s poor tackle on Lewis Cook sparked fury from Bournemouth, and after a lot of pushing and shoving involving half the players on the field, referee Stuart Attwell booked Borini for the challenge and Harry Arter for his reaction.
Boruc saved from Love, Steve Cook deflected Defoe’s effort over his own bar but then came the killer breakaway. Ryan Fraser crossed from the right and King tucked it in neatly at the far post.