Sunderland stopped the rot in the top flight after three consecutive defeats, but its wait for a first away league win since October rumbles on.

The Black Cats' fast start was rewarded in the 18th minute when Habib Diarra's shot was only parried by Djordje Petrovic, with Eliezer Mayenda on hand to tuck home the rebound.

But Bournemouth improved after going behind, with Marcus Tavernier twice going close to restoring parity in quick succession, only to be met by two fine stops from Robin Roefs, the latter of which came from a powerful free-kick.

Although Andoni Iraola's side ended the first half in the ascendancy, it almost fell further behind within 93 seconds after the restart, but after being slipped in behind by Enzo Le Fee, Diarra was thwarted one-on-one by Petrovic.

Bournemouth made the most of that reprieve when Evanilson, who was brought on at the break to replace David Brooks, turned Tavernier's inviting cross in off the crossbar to restore parity just after the hour, with the goal standing after a video assistant referee (VAR) check for handball.

Both sides had chances to snatch all three points late on, with Lutsharel Geertruida seeing his flicked effort chalked off for offside while Omar Alderete almost turned the ball into his own net when trying to block Rayan's fierce drive at goal.

"It's true, we are getting decent results. It's difficult to go eight games without a loss in the Premier League," Iraola said after the match.

"We are probably drawing too much. We have been drawing a lot in the Premier League. Some of them are very good draws, others not so good.

"Thirty-nine points, we lost today a chance to get those magical 40 points that everyone marks as the first thing. But we have to keep going. In three days we play Brentford."

Sunderland spurned some glorious chances when a goal up, most notably through Habib Diarra, who failed to finish when one-on-one with Djordje Petrovic.

"I think probably a draw is not the result we wanted, but we've paid for our slow start. It's taken us a lot of minutes to switch on," Iraola added.

"In the second half, we were much better and closer to winning the game. But we've paid for this slow start. We conceded the first goal, and after that it became difficult."

Sunderland was able to stop the rot in the Premier League as it ended a run of three consecutive defeats with a valiant point away from home.

However, the Black Cats have now failed to win on their travels in the top flight since a 2-1 win over Chelsea in October, which is a run of nine games without a victory.

"It's a tough place. They have a clear identity, they are intense and always on the front foot. It was really positive for us to challenge this position," boss Regis Le Bris said.

"After three defeats in a row, it's not a question of tactics or technique, it's mindset, to be honest. Today we showed it.

"We probably had the opportunity to win this game, especially at the beginning of the second half to make it 2-0. We didn't score, but it's a good point in the end.

"We had different options on the bench. We had a few injuries from Fulham as well, so it was important to make a few changes and the lads are still connected with the team.

"We are a small group, so they know with injuries and suspensions and so on something will come. When it comes, you have to get ready and that's what they did today."