Only Manchester United (10 games) are on a longer unbeaten run in the top flight than Bournemouth.
But the Cherries looked far from their in-form best in the first half on Saturday, spurning chances to score while struggling to contain Sunderland.
Junior Kroupi skewed a strike well wide after latching on to a loose ball, while Alex Scott could not replicate Eliezer Mayenda’s opener when Robin Roefs palmed the ball straight to him.
There will be some debate over whether Sunderland should have been reduced to 10 men in the first half, with Iraola left furious on the touchline when he thought Roefs had unfairly denied Kroupi a goalscoring opportunity.
But Bournemouth themselves were perhaps fortunate not to see red when the VAR decided to stick with Jared Gillet’s on-field decision to show Tyler Adams a yellow card only for his studs-up challenge on Granit Xhaka.
Regardless of those decisions – and their own slow start – Bournemouth will feel they should have fought back to steal all three points after a late flurry of chances.
