Those hoping to see a new and improved Aston Villa for 2016 were left disappointed as, once again, the Villans were the draughtsmen of their own demise. To add insult to injury, the latest defeat came against the Black Cats, who are themselves running out of Premier League lives.
Garde’s team selection, while a little unbalanced, at least showed signs of attacking intent.
The hosts made the brighter start and Watmore lashed the ball over the bar after three minutes.
The visitors slowly took control of the game, with Bacuna firing wide not once but twice.
With the Villans passing and moving well, Bacuna continued to look lively and caused Van Aanholt problems. He did well to burst down the wing and cross the ball in to Veretout, whose volley forced a fine save from Mannone to keep the ball out of the bottom corner.
Having settled, the Villans frustrated their hosts – and the home crowd – but, in typical Villa fashion, just as the home fans began to signal their displeasure at what they were watching, Garde’s men conceded in almost comical fashion after thirty minutes. Van Aanholt’s collected a pass from M’Vila on the halfway line and was allowed to proceed unchallenged and unleash a speculative shot from twenty-five yards out that looked set to go wide until it took a wicked deflection off Richards and beat the surprised Guzan.
Former Chelsea player Van Aanholt nearly added to his side’s advantage just before the break with a free-kick from twenty yards out that inched wide of the left-hand upright.
As the second half got under way, it was clear that Grealish was increasingly marginalised and, after fifty-seven minutes, Garde replaced him with Traoré. It proved to be a wise decision: when Borini lost possession, Traoré tore down Villa’s right, leaving three Sunderland players trailing in his wake, and delivered a deep cross to Gil that the Spaniard showed superb skill in using to beat Mannone with an acrobatic volley in the sixty-third minute of the match. It was a simply stunning goal that offered a rare reason to be cheerful to the travelling Villa fans – and an equally rare glimmer of hope.
With the hosts on the ropes, unfortunately, veteran Defoe was on hand to snuff out claret and blue hopes after seventy-two minutes with a moment of magic. He latched on to Johnson’s rather hopeful ball and shot a low drive left-footed, beating Guzan at his near post, aided by Lescott’s dubious defending.
Forgotten man Kozák replaced the injured Hutton after seventy-five minutes but the home side pressed on.
The visitors rarely threatened in the final fifteen minutes, with Gestede, assisted by Kozák, coming closest with a right-footed effort right at the death.
Unsurprisingly, it was Defoe who was on hand to seal the win for the hosts in injury time, connecting with substitute Toivonen’s cross and firing past Guzan from twelve yards out.
The former Tottenham front man was then denied his hat-trick by a questionable offside call deep into injury time.
Speaking post-match, Garde said:
“In life and football you have to believe – if you don’t you have no chance. But it’s more and more difficult. But every season in every league, a side can keep losing and suddenly win four, five or six in a row. But for that probably we will need to bring in one, two or three new players.
Today I didn’t see a side who didn’t give everything they could. When you concede so many goals it’s difficult to win games. You cannot be positive when you lose. I’m not here to lose – I’m here to try to make the team win.”
Winless since the opening day of the season, it’s clear that Championship football is calling Aston Villa’s name louder than ever.
