EPL Round 17: Sunderland AFC vs Aston Villa FC

By: Lucas | December 17th, 2007

Before this game, most Sunderland fans would have told you that, reasonably, a draw against one of the better teams in the league would have been OK. After this game, having looked at the statistics – Villa had a clear advantage in shots, corners, possession, etc. – most Sunderland fans would have been happy to come away with one point. The reality, though, apart from statistics and pragmatism, is this: We was robbed.

For long stretches of the match Aston Villa decidedly outplayed the Black Cats, putting their defense under tremendous pressure. Sunderland’s periods of attack were mostly short-lived, mostly lacking any finishing punch. Our best chances were from set pieces, with Danny Higginbotham heading home a Ross Wallace corner to put the home side up after just 10 minutes.

It was once again Kenwyne the Engine up front for Sunderland, winning head balls and causing havoc; but the midfield was unable to create a consistent flow of attack, and Kenwyne lacked the killer strike on the few decent chances he did have. His strike partner Anthony Stokes, apart from a goal disallowed for offside late in the first half, did not worry the Villa defense very much.

Aston Villa controlled much of the run of play, but Sunderland remained in the lead and were doing just enough to keep the Midlands club off the scoresheet. Villa’s attack was relentless, though, and at about 72′ Sunderland defender Paul McShane delivered a clumsy foul to second-half substitute Shaun Maloney, and brought the midfielder down hard just outside the penalty area. Maloney converted his own free kick, a devastating curler into the left side netting.

With time running out, though, it was Sunderland who were doing the attacking. Deep into stoppage time it appeared as though they had done it again, with Danny Collins heading home Grant Leadbitter’s corner. But the referee saw or invented a foul, blew the goal away, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Sunderland now sit just one point clear of the danger zone, and Roy Keane, who was grinning slyly before the match, may be in a spot of trouble for his post-match tirade against referee Steve Bennett (some of which you can see at the BBC link above). “You say take him out of the Premier League,” he fumed, “but it would be unfair to the Vauxhall Conference and their players and supporters if he went down there. The referee was the only man on the planet who saw something.”

Keano the Philosopher then attempted to overcome his anger: “Like everything else in life it will pass.”

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