Sunderland kicked off 2016 in the best way possible – a win over relegation rivals Aston Villa to close the gap to the top 17.
Patrick van Aanholt’s deflected volley opened the scoring in the first half, before Carles Gil’s spectacular volley levelled the scores. Jermain Defoe scored twice in the last 20 minutes to secure the three points for the Black Cats and rekindle their survival hopes, whilst Aston Villa look set to be relegated.
The Black Cats started the match on top, with Duncan Watmore blazing an early opportunity over the bar. A counter attack paved the way for the Black Cats to open the scoring, with van Aanholt running into the final third before pulling the trigger. His shot deflected off Villa captain Micah Richards to wrong foot Brad Guzan and allow the Dutchman to score his second goal of the season.
The goal came after Vito Mannone brilliantly pushed Jordan Veretout’s strike wide of the post.
Fabio Borini gave the ball away in the second half to allow Villa to score on the break, but the crowd and players kept their heads up to keep the Black Cats pressing.
The pressure culminated in a goal when Jermain Defoe latched on to Adam Johnson’s superb cross. The striker steadied himself, found room and put a bullet of a shot past Guzan at his near post.
Defoe sealed the points and eased the nerves in stoppage time after shoddy defending from Villa allowed Toivonen and Graham to play a neat one-two to Defoe, who made no mistake from 14 yards.
He could have had a hat-trick had the linesman not harshly ruled out a well-taken finish for offside.
The Black Cats will now play Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday before continuing their survival mission with a visit to Swansea on the following Wednesday.
Sunderland: Mannone, Jones, O’Shea (c), Brown, van Aanholt, M’Vila, Cattermole, Watmore, Johnson, Borini, Defoe
Subs: Pantilimon, Yedlin, Coates (Johnson, 88), Toivonen (Borini, 80), Lens, Graham (Watmore, 56), Fletcher
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Richards (c), Lescott, Cissokho, Bacuna, Gueye, Veretout, Gil, Gestede, Grealish
Subs: Bunn, Richardson, Okore, Clark, Traoré (Grealish, 57), Sinclair (Traoré, 88), Kozák (Hutton, 76)
Goals: Patrick van Aanholt (30), Carles GIl (63), Jermain Defoe (72, 90+2)
Bookings: Wes Brown (26, foul), Fabio Borini (33, foul), Alan Hutton (43, foul), Adama Traoré (69, foul), Carles Gil (86, dissent), Lee Cattermole (FT, unsporting behaviour), Rudy Gestede (FT, unsporting behaviour)
