Sunderland 1-3 Aston Villa

[andy villa]

Aston Villa striker Kevin Phillips returned to haunt Sunderland as the visitors ran out comfortable winners.

The ex-Sunderland favourite headed in Aaron Hughes' cross early in the second half, although the ball looked to have gone out of play in the build-up.

Gareth Barry tapped in for a second and a minute later Luke Moore's delightful backheel set up Milan Baros to score.

Sunderland got a late consolation when Liam Ridgewell felled Jon Stead and Dean Whitehead scored from the spot.

The home side had chances but were let down by a lack of quality in front of goal and some good saves by another ex-Black Cat Thomas Sorensen.

Both sides went into the game on the back of poor runs in the league but the victory will see the pressure eased on Villa boss David O'Leary.

It was chances aplenty in an entertaining first 45 minutes, with both keepers having to be at their best to keep the game goalless.

Stead seemed to possess the sort of confidence not normally shown in a striker without a goal in 10 games for the club.

He twice tested Sorensen with ambitious low shots from outside the area and once with a glancing header.

Phillips and Gavin McCann - a third ex-Sunderland player - combined to set-up Villa's first chance of the half only for Barry to screw his shot well wide.

Sorensen then denied Alan Stubbs with a great low save.

At the other end Phillips produced the sort of curling effort once seen in a red-and-white shirt which Ben Alnwick kept out one-handed.

Alnwick was at the centre of some controversy when he collected a harmless looking Milner shot and appeared to carry it over the line.

Barry then missed a simple chance in front of goal and Alnwick bravely denied Baros when he was clean through.

The pace of the game increased further after the break and Le Tallec missed from close range and Milner fired inches wide before Phillips broke the deadlock.

Phillips will get the headlines but it owed much to the persistency of Baros.

The Czech forward hustled Andy Welsh off the ball, although it looked like it may have gone out for a goalkick, before cleverly backheeling for Hughes to cross and Phillips only needed to add the final touch.

Sunderland could have equalised immediately when Christian Bassila drove into the box and crashed a shot that hit the underside of the bar before bouncing down to hit the line and out to safety.

Phillips went off injured midway through the second half to a warm reception from the fans on Wearside.

His replacement Moore could have secured the win when he burst clear but again Alnwick came swiftly out his goal to save his side.

Instead it was Barry who secured the win when he sidefooted in after some dazzling footwork from Milner.

A minute later Moore cleverly set up Baros and he gave the home side a lesson in clinical finishing.

The Sunderland supporters poured out of the stadium and few were left when Ridgewell was adjudged to have brought down Stead.

The former Blackburn forward was desperate to take the penalty but Whitehead stepped up.

It was barely a consolation as Sunderland broke a 92-year record for going 17 games without a home win.

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Sunderland: Alnwick, Nosworthy (Woods 60), Breen, Stubbs, Hoyte, Whitehead, Bassila, Miller, Welsh (Murphy 73), Stead, Le Tallec.
Subs Not Used: Davis, Caldwell, Gray.

Booked: Nosworthy, Woods.

Goals: Whitehead 90 pen.

Aston Villa: Sorensen, Hughes, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Bouma, Milner, Davis (Bakke 89), McCann, Barry, Baros (Hendrie 90), Phillips (Moore 68).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, De la Cruz.

Booked: Hughes.

Goals: Phillips 55, Barry 82, Baros 83.

Att: 39,707.

Ref: C Foy (Merseyside).

first half was dissapointing from villas point of view as we simply matched sunderland for the half and it was simply a coin flip as to what happened...

not good enough considering sunderlands problems and we had a few players back from injury...

but...

second half was much much better and we were deserved winners in the end...

moore and baros up front caused all kinds of problems with their pace and movement and their link up play was superb...

this could be the start of a beautiful front pairing....

[hanuma]

hope so..altho no doubt kevin phillips will get in the way of that.

sunderland are a decent enough side, if very limited, and at stadium of light its not a surprise that you struggled for at least one half.

[andy villa]

he might do this season, but i doubt he will be anything more than a bit part player next year...

[hanuma]

agreed.

still exciting tho.

with all your players back and seeing as you have seen current form how do you think the side should be playing?

[andy villa]

tbh, i have been advocating a baros moore front line for a while..

obviously baros has been injured, but i knew that the pace movement and trickery from the two would cause opposition defences no end of trouble..... this really did look exciting today, so im really looking forward to it developing further....

with regards our form, its one step at a time...

hopefully confidence will be up after how we played in the second half and the confidence did look to be back after we scored today, but i dont think the problems are over just because we have a few fit players back and won a game...

i think we will be inconsistant and rise to about 10th-14th in the table by the end of the season IF people stay fit...

regards the actual team, playing along the floor with,

sorenson

hughes mellberg bouma samuel

milner mccann davis/hendrie barry

moore baros

should be used for a while...

bit of pace, some creativity and some strength, should see us move away from the bottom....

then take it from there....

[hanuma]

i think it's certainly a team that can grow.

mccann is in his prime and will be for a couple of years yet.

davis, moore and milner (if you secure him permanently) are all excellent young talents that could get better.

barry (despite once being a great prospect) perhaps is a weak link tho...solid enough, but not really creative or conistent enough....or am i being too harsh?

backline looks excellent...dodgy keeper despite excellent shotstopping ability.

[andy villa]

barry doesnt have the pace...

technically hes a superb player and he works hard nearly most of the time.. but consistancy is an issue and he is slow... so although hes decent, he will never be a world beater...

maybe whittingham can come back with new life and take the spot... he looked excellent before he went and he has a sweet left foot and crosses very well...

moore and baros were pulling the defence all over the place and milner and barry were having a field day...

it was excellent as it was bringing more than just the front two into the game...

davis was quiet today, but if he was firing on all cylinders, he would have gotten more involved too...

i see taylor as our long term keeper tbh... hes an all round better keeper than sorenson even now, in my opinion...

once he gets into the team and is behind a steady defence, then he will be excellent i think...

the defence is touch and go tbh... some good players but very low on confidence... if laursen recovers, then it will be excellent... if not, then a replacement strong player whos good in the air will be needed to compliment mellberg...

[hanuma]

not a fan of bouma then, or do you think he is a full back?

[andy villa]

tbh, hes taking a long time to settle... hes being used as a fullback, but has been poor apart from one or two games...

having said that, hes been looking better before his injury and got better as the game went on today...

but hes definately not 100% at the races yet....

i dont think him and mellberg are the right centre back partnership either... bouma is quite short and mellber needs someone who is tall strong and can look after things in the air, while mellberg goes around and mops up...

he works much better that way...

we actually miss alpay... they were great together mellberg and alpay before alpay turned into a cok....

[hanuma]

my impression of mellberg was always one of a strong physical one who was good in the air...

[andy villa]

not entirely...

hes good in the air but not brilliant and he is strong, but he works much better alongside someone who is stronger, taller and more powerful in the air with good positioning....

hes better with his movement than his positioning, so hes better at clearing up....

if you know what i mean...

he worked well with alpay, who was less mobile, but a strong, no nonsense powerful defender....

someone like huth might be a good partner for him, but i dont really trust huths positioning nor his temperament...

[hanuma]

yeah i get it....interesting.

makes it a bit difficult for you tho because you dont have anyone who could perform that role for/with him.

[andy villa]

thats the problem...

laursen looked like he could fill that role, but obviously injuries have stopped that...

ridgewell is far too inexperienced and if im honest, has been proven to be a bit sh!t of late (dodgy pens against aside)...

cahill might be able to do a job with him though... when hes back fit..

[hanuma]

somehow dont see cahill being picked ahead of boumsong whether he is good enough or not.

oh well, if everyone stays fit you can at least start really looking forward to matches.

[andy villa]

i would hope he isnt picked ahead of boumsong...

that would mean hes sodded off to the barcodes!

hes far too good a talent for them!