April 19, (THEWILL) — Victory arrived in the most dramatic of circumstances for Aston Villa on Sunday, with Tammy Abraham’s header in the 93rd minute settling a seven-goal thriller against Sunderland and delivering a 4-3 result that few would have predicted after a chaotic final quarter.
Abraham’s deft flick from Lucas Digne’s left-sided delivery looped beyond Robin Roefs to extend Unai Emery’s side to 10 points above sixth-placed Chelsea, giving their top-five ambitions and UEFA Champions League qualification push considerable momentum.
Villa, however, should have been out of sight long before the final whistle. Ollie Watkins struck inside two minutes, nodding home from John McGinn’s delivery, only for Chris Rigg to level nine minutes later with a firm finish into the bottom-left corner for his maiden English Premier League goal. Watkins restored the advantage before the interval, heading into an empty net after Morgan Rogers and Ian Maatsen combined from the left flank. Rogers then made it three in the 46th minute, driving past Roefs following a move involving Ross Barkley and Watkins.
Sunderland mounted a stunning late fightback. Trai Hume curled into the top corner from a tight angle with four minutes remaining after dispossessing Jadon Sancho, and Wilson Isidor levelled just 58 seconds later, sliding home after Enzo Le Fee carved open the Villa rearguard. Emiliano Martinez then kept Villa alive with a sharp stop to deny Habib Diarra one-on-one, before the Sunderland forward compounded the miss by attempting to lob the goalkeeper when clean through moments later.
Villa punished that profligacy without delay. Digne’s delivery from the left picked out Abraham, whose decisive touch gave the hosts a result that had looked in serious jeopardy just seconds before.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
