Sunderland battle back through Jeremain Lens after Aston Villa revivalAston Villa 2 - 2 SunderlandHome team scorers
Scott Sinclair 11 pen
Scott Sinclair 41
Away team scorers
Yann M'Vila 8
Jeremain Lens 52
Two sides who struggled to overcome lower-division opposition in midweek illustrated why they will be residing in the lower reaches of the Premier League as they head into the first international break of the season.
That Aston Villa, having needed five goals to overcome Notts County in their Capital One Cup tie on Tuesday, failed to put away a Sunderland team low on confidence and coming off the back of a nine-goal thriller against Exeter City says much about the growing pains Tim Sherwood’s new-look team may have to go through before they can be properly judged.
Scott Sinclair followed up his midweek hat-trick with the goals that seemed to put Aston Villa in control of this game. That’s more goals than he had managed in the previous three seasons.
With both teams having resorted to high-scoring escape acts to avoid cup humiliation at the hands of lowly visitors in midweek, it was no surprise to see them quickly trading goals. Sunderland had eventually put six goals last Exeter in their second-round win but that was barely much of a confidence booster considering the three goals they conceded and the fact they had mustered only one point from their opening three league games.
Still, the quality of Yann M’Vila’s finish from a free-kick 20 yards out, just wide of centre, could not be questioned, as the Frenchman curled his shot in at the near post for his first goal in the Premier League. That was Sunderland’s first goal against these opponents in five meetings, and the first time they had managed to score in the first half of a league game this season.
Villa were not perturbed and within three minutes Sinclair, recalled to Tim Sherwood’s league line-up with Jack Grealish injured and Gabby Agbonlahor ill, had won and scored an equalising penalty. Lee Cattermole should have known better than to climb on the winger’s back and Sinclair was not going to think twice about going down. He dispatched his penalty with confidence, sending Costel Pantilimon the wrong way.
The home side, so poor in recent years at Villa Park, played some neat and enterprising football going forwards. Ashley Westwood, invited in as Younès Kaboul inexplicably backed off, blasted one shot just wide before Carlos Sánchez shot over when Sinclair and Micah Richards had both failed to connect with Leandro Bacuna’s free-kick.
But the lead Villa deserved arrived four minutes before the interval. Idrissa Gana – such as he has asked to be known having been signed under the surname Gueye – played a delightful through ball in behind Billy Jones that was matched by Jordan Amavi’s exquisite cross into the corridor of uncertainty from where Sinclair could not – and did not – miss.
Dick Advocaat had bemoaned his defenders’ ability to stay awake in training earlier in the week but it seemed his exasperation with his players had spread further up the field as he took decisive action during the interval. Cattermole and Danny Graham, both rather sluggish in the first half, were withdrawn and within minutes Steven Fletcher and Ola Toivonen, their replacements, had contributed more.
Fletcher had a header from Jones’s cross brilliantly tipped over before Toivonen, signed on Friday on loan from Rennes, set up the equaliser. The Swedish midfielder took the ball off Sánchez and slid a pass down the inside-right channel for Jeremain Lens to turn inside Ciaran Clark with ease. Although the Dutchman’s shot was on target, Brad Guzan may well have saved if the ball had not deflected above his reach off Micah Richards.
Richards was also responsible for Villa failing to retake the lead just before the hour mark. Gana played the ball out for Sinclair to cut in and dispatch a devilish cross-shot that the former England defender managed to head backwards rather than into the goal. If Villa fans were wondering why he was so high up the pitch, they were even more bemused by his defender’s header. It was that kind of afternoon.
Guardian
