Tammy Abraham’s sensational 93rd-minute winner fired Aston Villa one step closer to Champions League qualification in a ding-dong 4-3 victory over Sunderland.
It looked like Unai Emery’s men had thrown away three points when Sunderland scored in the 86th and 87th-minute to come back from 3-1 down, but the substitute’s late finish saved the day.
Daily Mail Sport’s CIARAN FOREMAN analysed the action.
ARE YOU WATCHING, THOMAS?
When England boss Thomas Tuchel opted for the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin over Ollie Watkins for his 35-man squad in March, it was hard to argue against the German’s logic.
Watkins had scored just one goal in his previous nine games for Unai Emery’s side, while Calvert-Lewin, in particular, was in sizzling hot form for Leeds.
It is no surprise, then, that during their talisman’s barren spell, Villa’s form faltered. They won just two of those nine matches.
So, what a time it is for him to come back into form.
The 30-year-old bagged two instinctive finishes either side of a Chris Rigg equaliser inside the first half here at Villa Park, taking his tally to six goals in the last five games.
For his first, credit must go to Villa’s tireless captain John McGinn, who darted behind the Sunderland defence and looped a cross to the back-post for Watkins to head home.
For Watkins’ second, Morgan Rogers was imperious. Bullying and teasing Nordi Mukiele on Villa’s left, the youngster found Ian Maatsen, who fizzed a ball across the face of goal for Watkins to nod it beyond Robin Roefs after 36 minutes.
Watkins repaid the favour to his team-mate in the second 45, finding Rogers with a sumptuous pass before the 23-year-old completed an excellent team goal just one minute after the restart.
Tuchel, who is looking for a deputy to Harry Kane at this summer’s World Cup, will surely have raised a smile if he watched proceedings unfold. Watkins may well be his answer.
‘Ollie was fantastic,’ Unai Emery said in his post-match press conference. ‘Not only scoring goals, but working, how he ran, duels with the defence and fighting.’
EMERY’S EUROPEAN HUNGER
There is an insatiable appetite that Emery has for European football that perhaps no manager in the continent shares
The four-time Europa League winner’s Villa side came into Sunday’s tie on the back of just three Premier League wins since the turn of the New Year.
Yet, on the back of their 4-0 trouncing of Bologna to book a semi-final place in the Europa League, they have come alive in the Premier League again – to hunt down Champions League qualification at the earliest opportunity.
They did not make it easy for themselves here, and there are tougher tests to come in the form of Liverpool – who are chasing their tail in 5th place – and Man City away on the final game of the season.
But should they see this out – either by winning the Europa League or finishing in the top five – they will have qualified for Europe’s premier competition twice since the Spaniard arrived in the West Midlands.
In just four weeks time, the architects behind the two statues currently outside Villa Park may have to start work on another – this time of a man with slicked back hair from the Basque Country.
BOX OFFICE BLACK CATS
Regis Le Bris’s Sunderland side have been one of the stories of the season, and they duly lived up to that title at Villa Park.
The visitors looked dead and buried after Rogers sucker-punch goal but, after capitalising on a defensive mishap from Jadon Sancho, hoisted themselves back into the game through Trai Hume’s finish from a tight angle.
Just 58 seconds later, Wilson Isidor, who replaced Brian Brobbey from the bench, stunned the home crowd as he fired beyond Emiliano Martinez to make it 3-3.
They could – and possibly should – even have taken all three points when Habib Diarra was bearing down on goal in the seven minutes of injury time.
But the 22-year-old opted to chip the streetwise Emiliano Martinez, who saved the ball with his fingertips before starting the attack that saw Abraham nick it for Villa in the end.
Le Bris said he was proud of his players for their spirit, and revealed that Diarra apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room post-match.
‘He felt it was a key moment in this game,’ the Sunderland boss said. ‘I don’t know about his decision-making. The goalkeeper played the situation properly, so it’s tough to say.’
Ultimately it was not to be for the Black Cats, who could have leapt up to 6th place with a win, but they have been a welcome addition to the Premier League this season.
